Schieferbergbau- und Heimatmuseum Holthausen

About the museum

The museum began in 1974, when a small group of local history enthusiasts started collecting and exhibiting objects in three basement rooms of the Holthausen primary school. The collection soon moved into the former school building and grew into a house with more than 2,500 square meters of exhibition space. It is run by the Museumsverein Holthausen and supported by the town of Schmallenberg.

The focus is slate mining in the Sauerland: the exhibition shows the process from quarrying the rock through splitting and dressing to the finished roof slate. The folk culture department documents rural life with agricultural tools, craftsmen's workshops and a "gute Stube" (best parlor). Other areas are devoted to the economic life of the region, above all knitwear production and the Kiepenkerlen, itinerant peddlers, as well as the nature of the landscape. A permanent exhibition also deals with the persecution of witches in the Sauerland under the Electorate of Cologne.

A fully functional historic printing workshop with bookbinding brings the craft of the "Schwarze Kunst" (black art, i.e. printing) to life. Since 2009 the Südwestfälische Galerie has complemented the museum: it shows art from the region from the 19th century to the present, including a room of its own for the sculptor Eugen Senge-Platten, who liked to work with slate.

Highlights

• Slate quarrying and processing from raw block to roof slate
• Fully functional historic printing workshop with hand bookbinding
• Südwestfälische Galerie with regional art and slate reliefs by Eugen Senge-Platten
• Folk culture with craftsmen's rooms and a "gute Stube"
• Exhibition on the persecution of witches in the Sauerland

Permanent exhibitions

• Schieferabbau und Verarbeitung – Shows all the work steps from quarrying slate in the Sauerland to the finished roof slate.
• Volks- und Heimatkunde – Agricultural tools, wheelwright's, saddler's and shoemaker's workshops, and a "gute Stube" tell of daily life in earlier times.
• Südwestfälische Galerie – Art from the Sauerland and South Westphalia from the 19th century to today, in four thematic strands, plus a room for Eugen Senge-Platten.

Founded

1974

Operated by

Museumsverein Holthausen e. V. (Museum der Stadt Schmallenberg)

Admission & discounts

Admission is free with the Schmallenberger SauerlandCARD and the Winterberg Sauerland SommerCARD. With the SauerlandCARD Winterberg, adults pay €4.50, children €2.00 and families €7.50.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The museum is opposite the Catholic church in Holthausen. In a navigation device, it is better to enter "Heustraße", since the town area has three streets called Kirchstraße.

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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