Museum Lebenslinien

About the museum

The Villa Lindenhof was built in 1905/06 to plans by the Munich Art Nouveau architect Richard Riemerschmid as a country house for the Ulm industrialist Max Robert Wieland, head of the Wieland-Werke. Herrlingen was then a popular summer retreat for wealthy Ulm families. After 1945 the house was used as a school, among other things; in the early 1970s it was threatened with demolition, but today it is a listed building owned by the town of Blaustein.

In 1989 the Rommel Museum was established in the villa, commemorating Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, whose family lived in Herrlingen, with maps, photographs, and documents. Over the years the one-sided focus on Rommel was increasingly debated.

In November 2019 the permanent exhibition "Lebenslinien" (Life Lines) opened in its place. It places Rommel in a broader context and tells of very different people who were active in Herrlingen in the first half of the 20th century: from the builder Wieland and his architect, via the progressive educators Anna Essinger, Klara Weimersheimer, and Käthe Hamburg, the educator Hugo Rosenthal, and the art historian Gertrud Kantorowicz, to the Jewish forced retirement home and the meeting of Gruppe 47 in 1947.

In this way the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era, and the postwar years become tangible through the example of a single place. A circular trail with six stations on the ridge around the villa leads to further sites.

Highlights

• Art Nouveau villa by Richard Riemerschmid (1905/06)
• Biographies of progressive educators, scholars, and Erwin Rommel
• History of the Jewish country boarding school and forced retirement home in Herrlingen
• Second meeting of Gruppe 47 in 1947
• Themed circular trail with six stations around the villa

Permanent exhibitions

• Lebenslinien – Historische Persönlichkeiten in Herrlingen – Biographies of people who lived in Herrlingen in the first half of the 20th century, against the background of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, and the Nazi era.

Founded

1989

Operated by

Stadt Blaustein

Admission & discounts

Guided tours in addition to admission: museum or villa tour €35 flat rate (school classes of up to 15 people €20), combined tour €70 (school classes €40).

Accessibility

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

Kids & families

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

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: not available
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Civil wedding ceremonies in the bay window room, on the piano nobile (Belle Etage), or in the columned hall; further rooms and kitchens for club and company events. Private celebrations such as birthdays or christenings are not possible.

Plan your visit