Museum im Alten Schloss

About the museum

The Old Castle, also called the Stone House (Steinernes Haus), goes back to the medieval castle of Neckarbischofsheim, which had belonged to the Lords of Helmstatt since the 13th century. After their Bischofsheim line died out in 1966, the building passed to the town in 1975. Between 1976 and 1978 it was extensively restored with support from the monument preservation office, during which paintings inside the building were discovered and uncovered.

In 1983 the town gave the Verein für Heimatpflege rooms on the second and third floors for a museum. They were prepared in agreement with the monument authority, so the first part could open in 1985 and the work was completed two years later. The association still runs the museum on a voluntary basis; according to its figures, more than 50,000 visitors have come since it opened.

The exhibition is devoted to the history of the town and to the lives of the Lords and later Counts of Helmstatt. Separate rooms show steel engravings by the landscape painter Louis Mayer, born in Neckarbischofsheim in 1771, as well as watercolors and oil paintings by the Jewish painter Ruth Schwob, whose collection is said to be the largest outside Switzerland. Works by artists who have exhibited on the first floor hang in the foyer, which also hosts small changing exhibitions.

Highlights

• Largest collection of paintings by Ruth Schwob outside Switzerland
• Steel engravings by the landscape painter Louis Mayer
• History and life of the Lords of Helmstatt
• Collection on town history
• Uncovered paintings in the historic castle building

Permanent exhibitions

• Ruth-Schwob-Zimmer – Watercolors and oil paintings by the Jewish painter Ruth Schwob, born in Neckarbischofsheim in 1919, who later lived in Switzerland.
• Die Herren von Helmstatt – History and life of the local lords of Neckarbischofsheim from the 13th to the early 19th century, with pictures of Count Max von Helmstatt.
• Stadtgeschichte und Louis Mayer – Collection on the history of the town, as well as steel engravings by the landscape painter Louis Mayer.

Founded

1985

Operated by

Verein für Heimatpflege Neckarbischofsheim (Gebäude: Stadt Neckarbischofsheim)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission to the Old Castle and the museum is free.

Accessibility

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