Museum für dörfliche Alltagskultur

About the museum

Folklorist Gunter Altenkirch has been collecting objects and eyewitness accounts of the lives of rural workers and farmers in the Saar region since the 1960s. In 1988 he and his family opened the private Museum für dörfliche Alltagskultur (Museum of Village Everyday Culture) in Rubenheim, a district of Gersheim in the Bliesgau region. In 2013 the Museum des Saarländischen Aberglaubens (Museum of Saarland Superstition) was added in the same building.

The museum is located below the village church in the former Gasthaus Hepp inn, a farmhouse from the first half of the 18th century. It is a typical southwest German Einhaus, combining living quarters and stable under one roof; the exhibition is spread over three floors.

The focus is on the everyday life of smallholders, day laborers, craftsmen, and workers in the 19th and 20th centuries: agricultural tools and early plowing technology, the processing of flax and wool, and kitchen and hygiene facilities. About 2,000 objects are on display, backed by extensive documentation with eyewitness testimony. The superstition department shows amulets, talismans, building sacrifices, and other evidence of folk belief, nearly all from the Saar region and documented by eyewitness accounts. Visits are always guided.

Highlights

• Farmhouse from the first half of the 18th century (southwest German Einhaus)
• Around 2,000 objects on rural everyday life on display across three floors
• Museum des Saarländischen Aberglaubens (Museum of Saarland Superstition) with amulets, talismans, and building sacrifices
• Extensive eyewitness documentation on Saarland folklore
• Visits always guided

Permanent exhibitions

• Dörfliche Alltagskultur – Around 2,000 objects on the work, housing, and households of the rural population of the Saar region in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Museum des Saarländischen Aberglaubens – Evidence of folk belief such as amulets, talismans, and building sacrifices, almost all documented with eyewitness testimony.

Founded

1988

Operated by

Familie Altenkirch (privat)

Director

Gunter Altenkirch

Admission & discounts

Prices include a guided tour (as of July 2026); €3 applies on the regular opening day (3rd Sunday of the month).

Accessibility

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

Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

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Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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