Tischlerei-Museum Bremen
Originally preserved steam-powered joinery workshop in Bremen's Ostertor district with more than 20 working woodworking machines, most of them from before 1900.
About the museum
The workshop on Köpkenstraße goes back to two neighboring craft businesses: Heinrich Wilkens ran a joinery there from 1854, which Gustav Adolf Deckwitz later took over, and in 1875 Johann Jacob Heinrich Seebach bought the workshop next door. In 1888, the two joiners merged their businesses into "Seebach & Deckwitz" and built a boiler room with a chimney to power the machines with steam.
After financial difficulties, the company name and owners changed several times in the 1890s. For a long time, the joinery also did contract work for smaller local craft businesses that had no machines of their own. Machine operations ran from 1889 to 1986 – for about a century.
To save the historic workshop from decay and demolition, the Tischler-Innung Bremen (Bremen joiners' guild) bought the building; a friends' association restored the rooms and machines and opened the museum in 1990. Today, the basement holds a complete ensemble of more than twenty woodworking machines, mostly from before 1900, which are driven by line shafts and still work today. The museum sees itself as a testament to the history of crafts in Bremen and Germany and opens on selected Sundays and for groups that book in advance.
Highlights
- More than 20 restored, working woodworking machines
- Machines mostly from before 1900
- Line shaft drive as in the historic steam-powered joinery
- Exhibits stand freely and may be touched
- Insight into about 100 years of Bremen's craft history
Permanent exhibitions
- Historische Maschinentischlerei – The originally preserved machine room with historic woodworking machines, mostly from the 19th century, including the drive and line shafts.
- Founded
- 1990
- Operated by
- Tischler-Innung Bremen und Förderverein Tischlerei-Museum Bremen e.V.
Admission & discounts
Admission is free.
| Groups | –Group tour (about 75 minutes), flat rate: up to 5 people €60, 6–10 people €75, 11–15 people €90. |
|---|
Admission is free on Sunday opening days. Guided tours are also available as gift vouchers.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible: not available
- Elevator: not available
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The museum is in the basement and can be reached only via a staircase with 8 steps (each about 19 cm high, handrails on both sides); after that there is only a small threshold and enough room to move around. The machines stand freely and may be explored by touch. Accessible parking space about 150 m away on Theodor-Körner-Straße.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Theater am Goetheplatz · 250 m
Tram lines 2 and 3, Theater am Goetheplatz stop (about 250 m)
By car
Parking available
Parking garage Am Wall or Ostertor-Garage (entrance from Osterdeich, heading toward the city center before the intersection with Am Wall). Accessible parking space about 150 m away at Theodor-Körner-Straße 28.
Amenities & dining
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 75 min |
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| Good to know | Group tours (about 1¼ hours, up to 15 people) by booking with the Tischler-Innung Bremen. |
