Stadtmuseum Ottweiler

City history museum in a former courthouse, with permanent exhibitions on the era of the counts and the Neumünster monastery; free admission.

Opening hoursFree admission

Website Directions

Stadtmuseum OttweilerOpening hoursFree admission

Website

About the museum

The museum shows the history of the town of Ottweiler and its surroundings. It is housed at Linxweilerstraße 5, a building erected in 1881 as a courthouse, which later accommodated, among other things, the employment office, the land registry and vocational school classrooms. In 1995, on the initiative of the then mayor, a sponsoring association was founded. On September 14, 1997, the museum opened with a permanent exhibition on the history of the Neumünster monastery.

Neumünster existed from 871 to 1576 above today's hospital. As a collegiate chapter and later a Benedictine convent, it was an important pilgrimage site. Models of the monastery church, gate keys, stone fragments, documents and excavation finds from the 13th century recall it. A second permanent exhibition, opened in 2000, is devoted to the era of the counts of the House of Nassau-Saarbrücken-Ottweiler. Emperor Charles V granted the town its town rights in 1550, and the charter of liberties can be seen.

The museum also includes the Ottweiler letterpress workshop, set up in 2005, and the museum pharmacy, a branch with an original Art Nouveau interior from 1911. The house is run by volunteers and is a member of the Saarland Museum Association (Saarländischer Museumsverband).

Highlights

Permanent exhibition on the Neumünster monastery with monastery church models and excavation finds
Ottweiler in the era of the counts, with the charter of liberties of 1550
Stone fragments of the former castle
Letterpress workshop with metal type and printing presses
Museum pharmacy (branch) with its 1911 Art Nouveau interior

Permanent exhibitions

Kloster Neumünster – 1200 Jahre Geschichte – Models of the monastery church, gate keys, stone remains, documents and excavation finds tell the story of the monastery complex, which existed from 871 to 1576.
Ottweiler in der Grafenzeit – Depictions of the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken-Ottweiler, the 1550 charter of liberties, castle fragments, and ordinances and documents show the civic life of the residence town.
Ottweiler Buchdruckwerkstatt – Metal type, typesetting machines and printing presses from former print shops; viewable only by arrangement.

Founded: 1997
Operated by: Verein Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Ottweiler e. V.