City history museum in a new building on the former Abdinghof monastery site, with a collections storage, a memory storage and a medieval cloister.
October 4, 2026 – February 21, 2027
Travelling exhibition on migration and integration in Ostwestfalen-Lippe, told through eyewitness interviews; supplemented by a Paderborn section created by students. With storytelling cafés and workshops.
From 1977 to 2015 Paderborn's municipal history museum was housed in the Adam-und-Eva-Haus as the "Museum für Stadtgeschichte". It closed in March 2015 because of conservation deficiencies. As part of a new concept for the city's museums, a new build and conversion was created on the grounds of the Abdinghof monastery, which was destroyed in 1945, to plans by the architect Tido Brussig. The new city museum was opened on October 9, 2017.
The building incorporates the medieval cloister of the monastery from the 11th century and the monastery garden. The permanent exhibition is devoted to about 1,250 years of city history from changing perspectives: from the eight-meter-high Bilderturm (picture tower) with city views, through house models, including a virtual reconstruction of the synagogue destroyed in 1938, to the "Erinnerungsspeicher" (memory storage) with short films on themes such as migration, Libori and destruction.
The center of the house is the Sammlungsspeicher (collections storage), which shows five cultural-historical collections, including those of the Altertumsverein (antiquarian society) and of urban archaeology. Changing special exhibitions examine the city's recent history and present. The museum also offers guided tours, workshops, readings and programs for families, daycare centers and schools. The museum is run by the City of Paderborn.
| Groups | –Prices for group tours on request. Programs for school classes with a workshop: €10 per group, paid in cash at the museum desk. |
|---|---|
| Public guided tour of the permanent exhibition | €5per person |
| Family tour with creative workshop (children from 5 years) | €5per family, up to 90 minutes |
Admission follows a "pay what you want" model: visitors decide for themselves what to pay.
Limited accessibility for people using a walker or wheelchair; the building has an elevator. Access via Franz-Stock-Platz is no longer possible.
Great for kids & families
Family tours with a workshop for children from 5 years; "Bild trifft Buch" (Picture Meets Book) for children from 4 years (free, no registration, on the first Wednesday of each month, alternating among the city's buildings); and programs for daycare centers and schools, e.g. with a museum box.
Rathausplatz
From Paderborn main station, take bus lines 4 and 8 to Rathausplatz or line 5 to Michaelstraße; from there it is about 3–5 minutes on foot.
Due to construction work, only a few parking spaces are available directly at the museum. Recommended are Königsplatz, Paderhalle, Domplatz and Liboriberg/Liborigalerie.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Audio guide | yes (DE, EN) |
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Public guided tours of the permanent exhibition (including with the Altertumsverein) are booked by email or phone; programs for daycare centers and schools by advance registration, Tuesday to Friday. |
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