Museum Lüneburg

About the museum

The roots of the museum go back to 1791, when a teaching collection for the sons of the nobility was created at the Lüneburg Knights' Academy. After the academy was dissolved, two associations took over the holdings: the Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein (natural science association) and the Museumsverein für das Fürstentum Lüneburg (museum association for the Principality of Lüneburg). Together they inaugurated their own museum building on Wandrahmstraße in 1891.

Shortly before the end of the war in 1945, bombs hit the nearby train station and also damaged the museum along with parts of the collections. Afterward, the two collections went their separate ways: the cultural history museum for the Principality of Lüneburg remained in the old building, while the natural history museum was rebuilt elsewhere.

Under the umbrella of the Museumsstiftung Lüneburg (museum foundation), recognized in 2011, both institutions were reunited. In March 2015, the Museum Lüneburg opened, combining the renovated founding building of 1891 with a new building by the firm Heidenreich und Springer; the ensemble received the BDA Prize of Lower Saxony that same year. In addition to natural history and cultural history, the finds of the city archaeology are also housed here.

The permanent exhibition shows around 1,300 objects in seven halls on about 1,700 square meters. It links natural history, archaeological, and cultural-historical exhibits to tell the development of the landscape and the city in context. The museum also includes a specialist library of about 50,000 volumes open to the public and the museum café Luna with a terrace on the Ilmenau.

Highlights

• The only surviving original salt pan of the Lüneburg saltworks
• Neanderthal hand axes from the area around Lüneburg
• A dugout canoe about seven and a half meters long from the Elbe
• Folding table from the castle on the Kalkberg, the oldest table furniture in Germany
• Ebstorf Map of the World compared with early modern globe pairs, including Mercator globes
• Lüneburg city model of 1935 with a media station on the Nazi era

Permanent exhibitions

• Dauerausstellung zur Natur- und Kulturgeschichte Lüneburgs – Seven halls lead from the salt dome and the Ice Age landscape through the first farmers and the founding of the city to the Hanseatic era, the modern era, and the Nazi era. Natural history, archaeological, and cultural-historical objects are deliberately placed side by side.

Founded

2015

Operated by

Museumsstiftung Lüneburg

Director

Prof. Dr. Heike Düselder

Admission & discounts

Free admission also for members of the Museumsverein and the Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein. Holders of the LUNA card (Sparkasse) and the VR-BankCard Plus receive €1 off regular admission, holders of the CleverKarte 10%. The media guide costs a €2 rental fee.

Accessibility

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

A platform lift at the entrance stairs leads to the automatic entrance door; all exhibition rooms can be reached by elevator or ramp. Benches in all halls, folding stools to borrow. Free accessible parking spaces in the delivery area along the long side of the building and on Willy-Brandt-Straße. For small groups of blind and visually impaired visitors there are tours with tactile objects from the materials suitcase; for deaf visitors, tours with sign language interpretation at regular intervals; every 1st Wednesday of the month at 15:00 the tour "Museumszeit" (Museum Time) for people with dementia (registration by the Tuesday before).

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities
• Kids’ birthday parties

Every 4th Sunday of the month at 14:30, the family activity "Gemeinsam ins Museum!" (Together to the Museum!) for children aged 6 to 12 with a short tour and crafts, plus hands-on Wednesdays and holiday workshops. Museum bag to borrow (€1.50) and a free museum quiz for children aged 8 and up, media guide track "Mit Hanna und Otti" for 5- to 10-year-olds, gable table puzzle in the entrance area. Children's birthday parties (2 hours, up to 12 children) €130–160. Baby changing room in the basement, nursing area in Hall 3 with a building table for siblings.

Getting there & parking

Plenty of bicycle parking on the museum forecourt, covered in the bicycle parking garages at the station.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

Museum café LUNA with a terrace on the Ilmenau (Tue–Fri 12:00–17:00, Sat, Sun, and public holidays 10:00–18:00, also without museum admission; breakfast Sat and Sun 10:00–12:00 with reservation). Museum shop in the foyer, accessible without an admission ticket. Free coat check with lockers (€1 coin) in the basement; bags larger than A4, backpacks, and umbrellas must be locked away.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

Up to 130 guests.

Marcus-Heinemann-Saal (approx. 180 m², up to 130 people) for lectures and conferences, museum foyer with Ilmenau terrace (up to 80 people) for celebrations and evening events, Raum m (up to 50 people) for workshops, as well as the studio and the inner courtyard "Grüne Oase" (Green Oasis). Catering through the museum café LUNA; reduced rates for nonprofit associations and cooperation partners.

Plan your visit