Photo: CTHOE · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Stadtmuseum Stadtilm

Small municipal museum in the east wing of Stadtilm's town hall, a former convent and palace; currently closed for redesign.

Temporarily closed

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Temporarily closed. The town of Stadtilm has closed the museum while the exhibition is being redesigned; no reopening date is known.

About the museum

The museum is housed in the east wing of the town hall, a building with an eventful history. In 1275, Count Günther IX of Schwarzburg moved a Cistercian convent from Saalfeld to Stadtilm; its consecration is recorded for 1287. From the convent period, a High Gothic vaulted room, now the library, and a cellar with a stone-oven hot-air heating system survive. After the Reformation, the convent was dissolved in 1533 and used as a count's demesne.

From 1612, Count Albrecht Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt converted the complex into his residence; it was then that the building essentially acquired its present form. It later served as an inn, warehouse and farm building and was partly destroyed by fire in 1897. In 1918 the town acquired the rebuilt complex and set up its town hall there.

According to the town, the small municipal museum dates back to 1902. It collects evidence of Stadtilm's local, everyday and industrial history – such as products of local companies, including sports shoes from the 1930s, goods from the former metalware factory, and radio and television sets from the GDR era – and relies on donations of objects, documents and photos from local residents. The museum is currently closed while a new exhibition concept is developed; the town has not announced a reopening date.