LVR-Landesmuseum Bonn

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The museum's roots go back to 1820, when the Prussian state chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg established a museum of Rhenish-Westphalian antiquities in Bonn. In 1874 this became the Provinzialmuseum (provincial museum) of the Rhine Province, which received its own building on Colmantstraße in 1893. In 1877 the bones from the Neander valley entered the collection; they have been among the museum's most famous objects ever since.

In October 1944 bombs largely destroyed the old building. After the war it was rebuilt by 1967 to plans by Rainer Schell; from 1997 to 2003 the museum was fundamentally remodeled and reopened as a thematic museum with a new exhibition concept. It is run by the Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR, Rhineland Regional Council).

The collection comprises around 400,000 objects from the Paleolithic to the present, including Roman gravestones such as the Caelius stone, medieval sculpture, decorative arts and painting. Since 2023 the permanent exhibition has been gradually renewed: on the upper floor, "Welt im Wandel" (World in Transition) presents a thousand years of Rhenish art and cultural history, while the archaeology department is being remodeled and is due to reopen from March 2027.

Highlights

• Original Neanderthal finds (in the museum since 1877)
• Roettgen Pietà from the 14th century
• Roman gravestone of Marcus Caelius
• Paintings of the Düsseldorf School
• New permanent exhibition "Welt im Wandel" on Rhenish cultural history

Permanent exhibitions

• Welt im Wandel. Das Rheinland vom Mittelalter bis morgen – New permanent exhibition (since 2023) on a thousand years of Rhenish art and cultural history – from medieval wood sculpture through the baroque and the Düsseldorf School to the present, complemented by a "Museum of the Future".

Founded

1820

Operated by

Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR)

Director

Thorsten Valk

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission every first Friday of the month

Ticket valid for permanent and special exhibitions. School classes free. Free admission for, among others, refugees in the asylum process, members of the DMB, ICOM and friends' associations, and companions of people with severe disabilities (marker in the ID).

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description

Certified by "Reisen für Alle" (Travel for All); two elevators with tactile buttons and announcements; free loaner wheelchairs and folding stools; tactile floor guidance system; inclusive stations for touching, smelling and listening; media guide with audio description and sign language videos; induction loop at the ticket desk; three accessible parking spaces on the forecourt (underground parking not accessible).

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Kids’ birthday parties

Free family rally through the permanent exhibition for children aged 6 and up; bookable family tour as a guessing game (ages 5 and up) and workshops on the Stone Age, Middle Ages or photography, which can also be booked as a children's birthday party (120 min., max. 10 children, own cake possible in a separate room).

Getting there & parking

The museum is located in Bonn's low-emission zone.

Amenities & dining

• Café: not available
• Restaurant

Restaurant "DelikArt" off the foyer (Tue–Sat 11:00–23:00, Sun/public holidays 11:00–22:00); library; monthly object appraisal (1st Wednesday, 14:00–16:00).

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 275 guests.

Event hall (up to 275 people), two seminar rooms, workshop rooms, foyer and museum lounge, and roof terrace; interpreting booths and streaming equipment; catering by DelikArt. Book via the event office of the LVR museum network.

Plan your visit