Kreismuseum Bitterfeld

About the museum

The impetus came in 1892 from the church treasurer and local historian Emil Obst: with the support of the town council, he put together a municipal collection on local studies and the history of the Bitterfeld district and called on the population for donations. The collection grew rapidly and in 1901 moved from the town hall to the former girls' school at the town church; from around 1905 it was referred to as the Stadtmuseum (city museum).

After Obst's death in 1929, Max Dietze continued to run the museum, which from 1936 could use the entire building and reopened renovated in 1937. The holdings survived the Second World War in storage elsewhere. In the GDR, mainly natural history and technical objects were added, and with the expansion of lignite open-pit mining, archaeological rescue excavations came to the fore. In 1961 the district took over the museum, which has been a Kreismuseum (district museum) ever since; it was expanded in 1960 and thoroughly renovated from 1992.

Today the museum is an institution of the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district. The exhibitions are devoted to natural landscapes and the Ice Age, prehistory and early history, city and trade history, the Reformation, and ballooning, for which Bitterfeld became known thanks to pure hydrogen from the local chemical industry. The amber cellar deals with Bitterfeld amber, which was extracted from the 1970s until 1993 in the Goitsche open-pit mine. A library, an archive and a photo library complete the offering.

Highlights

• Amber cellar on Bitterfeld amber from the Goitsche open-pit mine
• Room on Bitterfeld ballooning history (since 2021)
• Dioramas of fields, floodplain forest and garden realm
• Tactile trail "Natur be-greifen"
• City history from its founding to the industrial town around 1900

Permanent exhibitions

• Heimatschätze – Founding of the town, old trades, the Reformation and commerce around 1900, plus a dedicated room on Bitterfeld ballooning.
• Naturschätze – Dioramas and finds tell of the changing animal and plant life in a region shaped by chemistry and open-pit mining; with tactile trail.
• Bernsteinkeller – Formation, extraction and processing of Bitterfeld amber including inclusions of animals and plants.

Founded

1892

Operated by

Landkreis Anhalt-Bitterfeld

Admission & discounts

Free admission for members of the museum friends' associations as well as the Deutscher Museumsbund, ICOM and the Museumsverband Sachsen-Anhalt. Children's birthday party €40 plus materials (up to 10 children).

Accessibility

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

Only the exhibition rooms on the first floor are accessible by wheelchair. There is seating in the rooms.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Kids’ birthday parties

Holiday programs during the Saxony-Anhalt school holidays (e.g., amber lab, crafts), tactile trail in the nature exhibition and children's birthday parties for up to 10 children.

Getting there & parking

By car via the A 9, exit Bitterfeld-Wolfen and B 183, or from the direction of Berlin exit Halle and B 100; in Bitterfeld follow the signs to the city center.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Wi-Fi

Unattended coat check in the entrance area, museum shop at the ticket desk with its own publications, free Wi-Fi.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit