Stadtmuseum Abensberg

About the museum

The collection goes back to Pastor Peter Paul Dollinger and the merchant Nikolaus Stark, who gathered local history objects from the 1860s onward and first displayed them in the town hall hall in 1899. In 1926 Franz Xaver Osterrieder founded the local history association, which built up a local history museum of its own.

After the Second World War the holdings were combined and in 1963 moved, as the Aventinus Museum, into rooms above the cloister of the former Carmelite monastery – named after the Abensberg historian Johannes Turmair, known as Aventinus. In 2002 the local history association handed the entire collection over to the town.

Since 2006 the town museum has been located in the Herzogskasten, a tithe barn of the castle grounds built around 1450, which received its name after rule passed to the Bavarian dukes. Napoleon had prisoners housed there in 1809; later the building served as a hop kiln and furniture warehouse before it was renovated and converted into a museum in 2004/05.

The permanent exhibition leads through history on four levels: from the Neolithic flint mine in the basement, through the castle and town since its first mention in 1256 and the life of the guilds, hop farmers and stone quarry workers, to religious life with the nativity scenes of Sebastian Osterrieder. Changing special exhibitions are also featured.

Highlights

• Late Gothic Herzogskasten from around 1450 as the museum building
• Neolithic flint mine in the basement
• Town history from the Babonen to the 20th century
• Nativity scene art by Sebastian Osterrieder
• Guilds, hop and asparagus growing

Permanent exhibitions

• Burg und Stadt – Abensberg town history from the first mention of the castle in 1256 to the 20th century, with rule, associations, traditional costume, trade and education.
• Leben und Arbeit – Guilds and crafts, hop and asparagus growing, quarries and iron foundry, as well as inn and bathhouse culture.
• Religiöses Leben – Church buildings, folk piety and the nativity scene art of Sebastian Osterrieder.

Founded

1900

Operated by

Stadt Abensberg

Admission & discounts

Free admission including for members of the Museumsbund and ICOM, holders of the Bavarian Ehrenamtskarte (volunteer card) and teachers on preparatory visits.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• 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

All exhibition areas are designed to be wheelchair-accessible.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Kids’ birthday parties

Holiday and leisure programs for children. Children's birthday parties: treasure hunt "Graf Babo und der verlorene Schatz" (Count Babo and the Lost Treasure) (ages 6–12, 1 hour, €60) and, from May to September, "Archäologie in der Box" (Archaeology in a Box) with your own mini excavation (ages 8–10, 2.5 hours, €90), each for up to 10 children.

Getting there & parking

By car via the A 93 (exit 49 Abensberg) or the B 16 (exits Abensberg/Gaden or Abensberg/B 301). The station is about a 5-minute walk from the old town.

Amenities & dining

The tourist information office is located on the first floor of the Herzogskasten.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit