Heringsfängermuseum Heimsen

About the museum

The roots of the museum lie in a Heimatstube (local history room) that pupils of the Heimsen elementary school set up in 1964 in the basement of the school building as teaching material for local studies. After the school had stood empty for about ten years, a citizens' initiative formed in 1980 that wanted to develop the building into a local history museum.

In 1983/84, the village community built an extension through their own labor in order to also show herring fishing as a sideline of the village economy. At the suggestion of the state government, the concept was oriented entirely toward the herring fishermen of the Middle Weser from 1985 – smallholders and craftsmen from the area between Minden, Stolzenau, Stadthagen and Bückeburg who spent a large part of the year at sea on fishing luggers.

With the support of the state, the town of Petershagen, the NRW-Stiftung and many volunteers, today's ensemble came into being: the main building shows the fishing voyage, lugger types, fishing methods and the losses at sea, while in the museum courtyard three half-timbered houses depict life on land with traditional costumes, crafts and home furnishings around 1900. The museum is run by an association, and operations still rely on volunteer work; former herring fishermen also share their stories as eyewitnesses.

Highlights

• Fishing voyage of a herring lugger in twelve exhibition stations with a film from 1938
• Section on disasters at sea and the seamen's associations
• Traditional costumes of the herring fishermen's country in the Heimser Haus
• Crafts on land in the Meßlinger Haus
• Living rooms around 1900 in the Friller Haus
• Museum café with homemade cakes

Permanent exhibitions

• Haupthaus: Männer von der Mittelweser auf Heringsfang – Stages of a fishing season on board a lugger from hauling in the nets to salting, plus lugger types, fishing methods, the role of the navy and the losses at sea.
• Museumshof: Heimser, Meßlinger und Friller Haus – Three half-timbered houses show the life of the herring fishermen on land: regional traditional costumes, sideline crafts and furnished living rooms from around 1900.

Operated by

Heringsfängermuseum Heimsen e.V.

Director

Klaus Hildebrand

Admission & discounts

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Getting there & parking

The museum is in the Heimsen district directly on the Weser.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Coat check

Museum café with homemade cakes, open on Sundays when the museum is open, 14:00–17:00.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit