The most important museum of Eastern Christian art outside the Orthodox world – icons, embroidery, and metalwork in Recklinghausen's old town.
July 18, 2026 – November 8, 2026
Around 40 Russian and Greek icons from the 17th to 19th centuries that depict the lives and miracles of saints in sequences of images – some from the museum's own holdings, most on loan from private collections.
The impetus came from a much-acclaimed icon exhibition shown at the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen in 1955. Thomas Grochowiak, then director of the municipal museums, subsequently acquired a core collection of just over seventy icons from two private collections for the city. The Ikonen-Museum opened on July 21, 1956.
It is housed in the former Turmschule on Kirchplatz, a late 18th-century school building right next to the provost church of St. Peter. Among other uses, the building previously served as a boys' school and, from 1927 to 1935, as home of the Vestisches Museum. After a thorough renovation and redesign of the displays, the museum reopened in 2012.
Through purchases, donations, and bequests, the collection has grown to almost 5,000 objects: panel and metal icons, gold embroidery, miniatures, carvings, liturgical objects, and Romanian reverse glass icons from Russia, Greece, the Balkans, the eastern Mediterranean, and Ethiopia, created between the 13th and early 20th centuries. A separate Coptic department illustrates the transition from late antique to early Christian culture in Egypt. The museum is one of the city's art museums and works closely with the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen; since 2021, parts of the collection have also been published online on museum-digital.
| Adults | €6 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €3School students, apprentices, university students, groups of 10 or more, holders of the Recklinghausen-Pass or a comparable card from other municipalities, holders of the Ehrenamtskarte NRW (volunteer card) |
| Children & teens | €3free up to age 13 · Children under 14 free; school students aged 14 and over pay the reduced price. |
| Seniors | –No senior discount listed. |
| Students & apprentices | €3 |
| Groups (10+ people) | €3 per personReduced admission for groups of 10 or more. Booked guided tour €55 per group (max. 15 people); register at 02361 501941. |
| Audio guide | €2In six languages. |
Pay what you want on Wednesdays (does not apply to groups with a booked guided tour).
According to the museum, accessible without barriers.
Great for kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 13 |
|---|
Workshops with a tour for children from about 6 to 14 years and their families (2–3 hours), family tours on Christmas Eve and Easter Monday, and shadow theater for children of kindergarten and elementary school age.
Recklinghausen Hauptbahnhof
In the traffic-calmed old town, opposite the tower of the Petruskirche; within walking distance of Recklinghausen Hauptbahnhof (main station).
Parking available
No parking lot of its own; parking garages within walking distance: Augustinessenstraße 2 and the Krim underground garage of the Sparkasse at Herzogswall 5.
Museum shop with publications; support association EIKON.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 1.5 hrs |
|---|---|
| Audio guide | yes (DE, FR, EN, NL, RU, EL) |
| Good to know | Public guided tours on selected Sundays at 15:00 (free plus admission, no registration). Group tours on request; themed tours last 60–90 minutes. |
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