Museum Schliekau

About the museum

The weights-and-measures inspector Rudolf Schliekau (died 1953) created the museum as his "life's work after hours." He rescued objects that others considered too insignificant and restored them in long nights of work. Many natural history pieces and objects from non-European cultures come from the journeys he made as a young mechanical engineer to America, Africa, and Asia.

During the Nazi era the museum remained closed from 1934, after senior party members tried to claim pieces of the collection for themselves. In 1959 his son, master bookbinder Rudolf Schliekau (died 1980), reopened the collections to the public in ten rooms of the house. The grandson Jürgen Schliekau sen. (died 2007) re-identified many pieces, added to the holdings, and set up an archive.

Today the fourth generation runs the house together with the fifth as a private museum, and the family bears its costs itself. The collection covers prehistory, natural history with a large mineral collection, crafts, household objects, fire-making and lighting, bonnets and traditional costumes, porcelain, and weapons. The museum is currently being renovated so that an important area becomes accessible, and it is to be expanded with historic radio receivers.

Highlights

• Prehistory and early history, with comparison pieces from other cultures
• Minerals, fossils, shells, and snails
• Collections of weapons, crafts, and household objects
• Bonnets, traditional costumes, porcelain, and pewter
• Privately run by the same family for four generations

Permanent exhibitions

• Vorgeschichte – The oldest tools, everyday and cult objects from the region, from the Old Stone Age to the early Iron Age, supplemented by comparison pieces from Greece, Rome, Egypt, China, America, and Polynesia.
• Naturgeschichte – Extensive collection of minerals, fossils, shells, and snails from around the world, plus rare fruits.
• Hausrat, Handwerk und Trachten – Tools of various trades, lighting fixtures, sewing items, bonnets, musical instruments, tobacco pipes, beer steins, and porcelain.

Operated by

Familie Schliekau (Privatmuseum)

Admission & discounts

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible: no information
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The renovation is meant to make an important area accessible; part of the exhibition will still be reachable only by stairs.

Kids & families

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Getting there & parking

Address: Kurze Straße 4, Bad Bevensen.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.