Knauf-Museum Iphofen

About the museum

The Knauf Museum goes back to the plaster manufacturers Alfons N. Knauf and Karl Knauf. Fascinated by plaster as a material, the brothers visited the world's great museums for years and developed the idea of showing masterpieces of ancient cultures in faithful casts in one place. From the 1970s they had important reliefs molded in museums and at the original sites.

The museum building is a Baroque structure of 1688 on Iphofen's market square, the former Amtshaus (district office building), whose conversion into a museum began in the 1960s. The museum opened on June 30, 1983; its initiator Alfons N. Knauf did not live to see it.

The "Reliefsammlung der großen Kulturepochen" (relief collection of the great cultural epochs) now comprises around 200 replicas whose originals date back to about 3500 BC – from Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia and the Hittite Empire through Greece and Rome to India, Cambodia and ancient America. Among the best-known pieces are casts of the Rosetta Stone and the law stele of Hammurabi. In addition, the museum shows special exhibitions every year in its new building, often in cooperation with other art museums. The operator is Knauf Gips KG.

Highlights

• Around 200 plaster casts of masterpieces from five millennia
• Casts of the Rosetta Stone and the Hammurabi stele
• Reliefs from Angkor Wat and the Maya site of Palenque
• Baroque Amtshaus of 1688 with inner courtyard
• Audio guide included, children's audio guide for the Egypt section

Permanent exhibitions

• Reliefsammlung der großen Kulturepochen – Around 200 faithful plaster casts of famous reliefs and steles lead from Egypt and Mesopotamia through Greece and Rome to Asia and ancient America.

Founded

1983

Operated by

Knauf Gips KG

Director

Markus Mergenthaler

Admission & discounts

Audio guide included in admission.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Entrance at ground level; permanent exhibition (old building) and special exhibitions (new building) reachable by elevator. One room on the first floor of the old building is reachable only via a small flight of stairs, and there are door thresholds in the old building. Benches and folding stools throughout the building, wheelchair-accessible restroom.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

"Junges K-Museum" area: children's tour via audio guide through the Egypt section (follow the scarab symbols), interactive media tables with memory game and the Gipsi puzzle booklet for the special exhibitions at the ticket desk. Children's tour "Altes Ägypten" for groups and school classes.

Getting there & parking

The museum is centrally located in the old town directly on Iphofen's market square.

Amenities & dining

The museum offers publications on the permanent and special exhibitions for sale, including the series "Ponte fra le culture". Pets are not allowed.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit