Museum Menden
City museum in a Baroque townhouse on Menden's market square – from Ice Age finds from the Hönne Valley to Biedermeier fashion, free admission.
About the museum
The Menden museum was founded in 1912 on the initiative of Friedrich Glunz and is thus one of the older local history and city museums in Westphalia. The first collection items were initially displayed in two rooms of the old town hall.
As early as the end of 1914, the collection moved into the stately townhouse on the market square, which the merchant and mayor Johann Caspar Biggeleben had built in the 18th century. The building is now a listed monument and, with its historic rooms, gives the museum a special setting.
The collection reaches far back into prehistory: Ice Age animal bones and stone tools come from the caves of the Hönne Valley. Further departments are devoted to life and crafts in the Middle Ages, the fashion and jewelry of the Biedermeier period, Jewish life in Menden, and a reconstructed farmer-townsman's house (Ackerbürgerhaus).
Since 2010, the city museum has been part of a small museum network of the city of Menden, which now also includes the Schmarotzerhaus, the Poenigeturm, and the Industriemuseum at Gut Rödinghausen. The municipal museum team is supported by the Museums- und Heimatverein Menden (museum and local history association).
Highlights
- Ice Age finds from the caves of the Hönne Valley
- Baroque patrician house of the Biggeleben family on the market square
- Reconstructed farmer-townsman's house
- Fashion and jewelry from the Biedermeier period
- Department on Jewish life in Menden
Permanent exhibitions
- Mendener Stadt- und Kulturgeschichte – A tour from the Ice Age in the Hönne Valley through medieval crafts to Biedermeier fashion and a reconstructed farmer-townsman's house.
- Founded
- 1912
- Operated by
- Stadt Menden (Sauerland)
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
| Groups | –Group tour (60–90 minutes, 15–20 people): €50 flat rate, combined with a city walk €60, school classes €10. |
|---|
Free admission to all municipal museums in Menden, including special exhibitions.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible: not available
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
Not accessible due to the historic building fabric. Assistance dogs are welcome.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
- Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
The museum mouse "Melchior Stöbernas" accompanies children through the collection with question sheets.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Nordwall · 3-min walk
Several bus lines to "Nordwall" (approx. 3-minute walk) or "Bahnhof Menden" (approx. 6-minute walk).
By car
Free parking · 7-min walk to the entrance
Free parking at Wilhelmshöhe (approx. 7-minute walk) and Am Ziegelbrand (approx. 10 minutes); paid underground parking at the town hall (approx. 5 minutes).
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Group and themed tours (60–90 minutes, German only) should be booked at least two weeks in advance via the online form, by email, or by phone; also tours combined with a city walk, e.g., on Jewish life in Menden. |
