Sandsteinmuseum Bad Bentheim

About the museum

The Sandstone Museum opened in the summer of 1999. It is run by an association whose members volunteer for the cash desk, guided tours, special exhibitions, and museum education. The building stands on the Funkenstiege in the castle park directly below Bentheim Castle, against the backdrop of the steeply rising rocks of the Bentheim ridge.

The museum is housed in a historic farmer-townsman's house (Ackerbürgerhaus) that was expanded with a modern annex. On roughly 180 square meters, the permanent exhibition is devoted to the rock, which formed about 135 million years ago as a marine deposit and still shapes the town and surrounding area today. It has been quarried in the quarries of Bentheim and Gildehaus for around a thousand years; as "Bentheimer Gold," it was a sought-after building and sculpting stone that was shipped via the Vechte all the way to the Netherlands.

The exhibition first explains the origin and properties of the stone, including its role as a reservoir rock for oil and groundwater. Further sections cover quarrying and use in architecture and art, as well as the transport routes as far as overseas, told through the example of the ship Batavia and the Batavia portal. The upper floor deals with the working world in the quarry. Also on display are a Romanesque baptismal font of the "Bentheim type" on loan from Zwolle, as well as large exhibits outdoors.

The association also looks after the disused quarry Schlüters Kuhle at the water tower, where hobby sculptors work with the local sandstone and where courses and children's birthday parties take place.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition on the geology of Bentheim sandstone
• Quarrying and use of "Bentheimer Gold" in buildings as far away as Amsterdam
• Touch table on the history of the Batavia and the Batavia portal
• Romanesque baptismal font of the "Bentheim type"
• "Arbeitswelt Steinbruch" (working world of the quarry) section on the upper floor
• Large outdoor exhibits at the foot of the castle

Permanent exhibitions

• Geologie des Bentheimer Sandsteins – How the rock formed from marine deposits about 135 million years ago, what properties it has, and why it stores oil and groundwater – complemented by computer stations.
• Abbau, Verwendung und Transportwege – A thousand years of quarries in Bentheim and Gildehaus, the stone in architecture and sculpture, and its trade routes to the Netherlands and overseas, for example through the Batavia.
• Arbeitswelt Steinbruch – The section on the upper floor shows the harsh conditions under which the quarrymen, the "Kuhlkerls," worked.

Founded

1999

Operated by

Sandsteinmuseum Bad Bentheim e.V.

Admission & discounts

Admission is free on certain special event days (e.g., International Museum Day, Family Day).

Accessibility

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

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Hands-on stations
• Kids’ birthday parties

An interactive wall monitor conveys knowledge for children and adults in a playful way. For children's groups there are guided tours with a quiz and fossil making, as well as a sandstone rally with a photo folder. Children's birthday parties (ages 8 and up, 6–12 children, approx. 2 hours) take place in the old quarry Schlüters Kuhle, where the children work on a piece of sandstone themselves. Once a year, a family day with hands-on stations invites visitors.

Getting there & parking

The museum is located on the Funkenstiege in the castle park below Bentheim Castle.

Amenities & dining

The booklets of the museum's publication series and the bike tour description "Sandsteinroute" are available at the museum.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit