Stadtmuseum Lahr

About the museum

The collection of the Stadtmuseum Lahr goes back to the 19th century: it arose from the natural history cabinet of the Lahr Gymnasium, which became municipal property in 1870. After the city council's appeal in 1891 to hand over evidence of local history, this grew into the Städtische Sammlungen, which were long housed in the Villa Jamm in the Stadtpark and remained mainly natural history and rural in character until the late 20th century.

The present museum building was constructed in 1896 by the manufacturer Carl Friedrich Liermann, designed by the Lahr architect Carl Meurer, as the production facility of the stove and clay goods factory C.H. Liermann. Up to 3000 tiled stoves a year were made here, with production running from molding on the upper floor to the kilns in the cellar. With the triumph of central heating, production ended in 1957, and the building then fell increasingly into disrepair.

In 2014 the city of Lahr acquired the listed factory building and had it converted into a city history museum to plans by the Berlin firm heneghan peng architects, which opened in 2018. The collection was refocused on city history in the process.

The permanent exhibition on three levels leads from Roman and Merovingian finds with an ArchäoLab, through the development of the town since the lowland castle of 1220, to industry and the garrison period. The Stadtmuseum also includes the medieval Storchenturm and the Roman site with a reconstructed strip house in the Bürgerpark.

Highlights

• Tiled stove factory of 1896 as the museum building
• ArchäoLab with hands-on stations on excavation and analysis
• Digital city model and the Lahr Bürgerbuch (citizens' book) of 1356
• Lahr industry from chicory to slide rules
• Storchenturm and Roman strip house as branch sites

Permanent exhibitions

• Vor- und Frühgeschichte mit ArchäoLab – Finds from the Roman vicus in Dinglingen and Merovingian noble graves, plus laboratory stations on excavation and analysis methods.
• Stadtentwicklung Lahr – The growth of the town from the lowland castle around 1220 to the 20th century, with a digital city model and media stations on the Bürgerbuch and emigration.
• Lahr und die Industrie – Garnisonsstadt Lahr – From craft to industry with tobacco, chicory, cardboard goods, printing, and drafting instruments, as well as almost a hundred years of the city's military history.

Operated by

Stadt Lahr

Director

Silke Höllmüller

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Every first Sunday of the month

Free admission with the Museums-PASS-Musées and for members of the Museumsverband Baden-Württemberg, the Deutscher Museumsbund, and the Bundesverband Museumspädagogik. Storchenturm and Roman site (outdoors) free of charge.

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

The tiled stove factory is accessible; the listed Storchenturm is not accessible (digital tour online), the Roman site only to a limited extent.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Kids’ birthday parties

ArchäoLab stations in the basement invite children and adults to try out archaeological methods. Children's birthday party as a scavenger hunt (ages 10 and up, up to 12 children, €120); its own Pixi book on the museum; programs for daycare groups from age 3.

Getting there & parking

Entrance on the side street (Kreuzstraße). If you arrive with a bwtarif, Deutschland, or JugendBW ticket and pay admission, you receive a hot drink free. Roman site: bus to "Kanadaring," parking at the sports hall/Bürgerpark.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Wi-Fi

Museum café in the foyer (Wed–Sun 11:00–18:00) with fair-trade and regional products; small museum shop; free Wi-Fi. In summer, the open-air concert series "MuseumsBar" on the museum square.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit