Museumsdorf Cloppenburg

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The roots of the Museumsdorf (museum village) go back to 1922, when a local history museum for the Oldenburger Münsterland region was founded in Cloppenburg. The driving force was the teacher Heinrich Ottenjann, who came up with the idea of not merely documenting rural buildings but dismantling them completely and re-erecting them in a museum village. From 1934 the site on Bether Straße was developed for this purpose, and in 1936 the open-air museum officially opened – one of the first of its kind in Germany.

Over the following decades, the complex grew to around 20 hectares with more than 50 buildings from the 16th to the 20th century. These include imposing farmsteads such as the Quatmannshof and the Wehlburg, several windmills, craftsmen's houses, a village school, the half-timbered church from Klein-Escherde, and the Arkenstede manor house, which shows the lifestyle of the rural gentry. Under Helmut Ottenjann, who directed the museum from 1961, academic collecting and research also gained importance.

Today the Museumsdorf is a foundation under public law and bears the title Niedersächsisches Freilichtmuseum (Lower Saxony Open-Air Museum). In recent years it has increasingly turned its attention to the more recent past: the country disco “Zum Sonnenstein” from Harpstedt was the first building from the period after 1949 to be relocated here, and an area devoted to everyday rural life in the postwar decades is to be developed around it. In 2022 the museum celebrated its centenary. Changing exhibitions, livestock, gardens, and large event days such as the fair (Kirmes), harvest festival, and St. Nicholas market complement the tour.

Highlights

• More than 50 relocated buildings on around 20 hectares
• Arkenstede manor house and the Quatmannshof and Wehlburg farmsteads
• Country disco “Zum Sonnenstein” from Harpstedt
• Agricultural machinery exhibition in the Dr.-Helmut-Ottenjann-Halle
• Bakehouse with bread from the stone oven (April to October)
• Event days such as Dorfpartie, Kirmes, harvest festival, and St. Nicholas market

Permanent exhibitions

• Von Dampfmaschinen und Traktoren – Landtechnik – Agricultural machinery and equipment, mainly from the first half of the 20th century, on more than 1,000 square meters in the Dr.-Helmut-Ottenjann-Halle.
• Konsum(t)räume – Zwischen Acker und Asphalt – Exhibition on consumption, leisure, and mobility in the countryside after 1949, including a re-created corner shop (Tante-Emma-Laden).
• Rund um die Uhr – Clocks from town and country in the Weser-Ems region showcase the skill of regional clockmakers.

Founded

1922

Operated by

Stiftung Museumsdorf Cloppenburg – Niedersächsisches Freilichtmuseum (Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts)

Director

Dr. Torsten W. Müller

Visitors per year

approx. 280,000 (2023)

Admission & discounts

Day tickets also available in advance via Nordwest-Ticket. Bookable guided tours in addition to admission (e.g., overview tour for adults €80, school classes €50, 90-minute themed tour €100 per group). Discount partnerships with the Moor- und Fehnmuseum Elisabethfehn, Emslandmuseum Schloss Clemenswerth, and Park der Gärten. Card payment possible at the main ticket desk.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• 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

Because of the historic buildings, only partially accessible; some houses and exhibitions cannot be reached by wheelchair. Accessible main entrance at the Bether Straße parking lot with a pedestrian bridge (incline) into the old village; access from Höltinghauser Straße by prior arrangement by phone (04471 9484-40). Paths can be slippery in winter.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Kids’ birthday parties

Adventure tour for families (approx. 60 min.), hands-on activities and animals in the museum village; children's birthday parties (2 hours, depending on the program ages 6, 8 or 10 and up).

Getting there & parking

Via the A1 (exit Cloppenburg) and the B72 to the exit Cloppenburg-Bethen, then follow the signs; from the north via the A29 to the exit Ahlhorn.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant

Restaurant "Dorfkrug im Museumsdorf" (from March 11:00–16:30, with its own vacation closures) and Backhaus at the Quatmannshof with bread, butter cake and coffee (April–October). Dogs on a leash allowed.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 55 guests.

Civil weddings in the wedding room of the Arkenstede manor house (May–September, on the first Friday and Saturday of each month; €200), church weddings in the village church from Klein-Escherde (max. 55 seats; €250). Celebrations through the Dorfkrug.

Plan your visit