Heimatmuseum Freigericht

About the museum

The Freigericht local history museum was set up in 1996 by the Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Freigericht, with support from the municipality, in the "Alte Apotheke" in Somborn. The house, with its impressive half-timbered upper floor, offers space for displays of life and work in the villages of the municipality. On view are a classroom, a shoemaker's and a tailor's workshop, a sewing room, a bedroom, and a kitchen including the workplace of a cigar maker.

Cigar making played a special role, because it brought economic growth to the Freigericht villages from the late 19th century. Around 1920, over a thousand people, mostly women, worked in this trade, often as home workers. Until the early 1970s the cigars were made by hand.

After an extension, a model of the Freigericht light railway was added. The railway ran from 1904 to 1955. It carried commuters to Hanau, Offenbach and Frankfurt and transported raw materials, goods and mail; excursionists also used it on their way to the Vorspessart. The model, built in display-case style, shows the former stations between Gelnhausen, Freigericht and Langenselbold with their surroundings, supplemented by graphics on the history of the line's construction. Changing special exhibitions complement the permanent display.

Highlights

• Model of the Freigericht light railway
• Workplace of a cigar maker
• Shoemaker's and tailor's workshop
• Classroom, bedroom and kitchen from earlier times

Permanent exhibitions

• Leben und Arbeiten in früherer Zeit – Staged rooms such as a classroom, kitchen, bedroom, shoemaker's and tailor's workshops and a sewing room show the everyday life of earlier generations.
• Zigarrenherstellung als Heimarbeit – The equipment of a home-work cigar workplace recalls the trade that long shaped the Freigericht villages.
• Die Freigerichter Kleinbahn – Model layout with the former stations of the Gelnhausen–Freigericht–Langenselbold line, plus graphics and texts on railway history.

Founded

1996

Operated by

Heimat- und Geschichtsverein Freigericht e.V.

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