Museum Tabakspeicher

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The museum is housed in a half-timbered warehouse built in 1712. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it stored raw tobacco – Nordhausen was then a stronghold of chewing tobacco and cigar production, and the warehouse served the firm Walther & Sevin. After extensive conversion in 1994, the city of Nordhausen opened its Museum of Crafts, Trades, Industry and Archaeology here in 1995.

On more than 1,000 square meters across several floors, the everyday life of past generations becomes tangible: workshops and rooms such as a bakery, laundry room, general store, coffee roastery and a 19th-century worker's kitchen, along with printing blocks from Germany's first wallpaper factory and a screening room with historic cinema technology. One focus is the trades that made Nordhausen famous: chewing tobacco, grain distilling, brewing and cooperage.

The largest room is devoted to Nordhausen's industrial firms, with a forge, a metalworking shop and postal and telecommunications technology, where visitors can plug in connections themselves on an old switchboard. The archaeology department shows finds from the district from prehistory and early history to the late Middle Ages. The museum is also a lively venue for special exhibitions, concerts, readings and collectors' fairs; it is run by the city of Nordhausen with support from the Förderverein Tabakspeicher e.V. (friends' association).

Highlights

• Half-timbered tobacco warehouse from 1712
• Nordhausen's history of chewing tobacco, distilling and brewing
• Historic workshops, bakery and general store
• Hands-on telephone switchboard and historic cinema room
• Archaeological finds from a mammoth tusk to bracteates

Permanent exhibitions

• Historisches und regionales Handwerk – Workshops, a shop, a bakery and living quarters of bygone times, plus the trades typical of Nordhausen: chewing tobacco, distilling and brewing.
• Industrie – Nordhausen manufacturing firms with a forge, a metalworking shop and a hands-on section on postal and telecommunications technology.
• Archäologie – Finds from the Nordhausen district from prehistory through the Bronze and Iron Ages to the late Middle Ages.

Founded

1995

Operated by

Stadt Nordhausen

Director

Jürgen Rennebach

Admission & discounts

A uniform fee schedule applies to Nordhausen's three municipal museums. Friday is museum day with reduced admission. The 2023 fee schedule also lists a “Touri-Ticket” valid for three days at all three museums (€7). Higher admission may apply for certain special exhibitions; the Mehrkindfamilienkarte (large-family card) is accepted. According to the city, only cash payment is possible at the museum.

Accessibility

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

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Kids’ birthday parties

Hands-on museum education programs for children (mostly ages 6–14) and families, for example rallies, writing with a quill, bakery, museum at night, plus seasonal activities. Children's birthday parties Tue–Fri by arrangement with waffle baking, two activities and pizza baking.

Getting there & parking

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

Amenities & dining

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

Events & venue rental

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

Available for celebrations, receptions, conferences and symposia; weddings in the historic setting are possible.

Plan your visit