Zeiteninsel

About the museum

The museum has its origins in excavations in the Lahn valley near Niederweimar: since about 1990, gravel extraction has brought to light numerous traces of settlement ranging from the Mesolithic to the Roman Imperial period. From around 2000, archaeologists developed the idea of an open-air museum based on these finds. It became possible when, from 2010, the "ParAllna" compensation area was created as part of closing the gap in the B 3 highway between Marburg and Gießen – a newly constructed mouth channel of the Allna river that now surrounds the museum grounds as an island.

The museum is run by the cooperative Zeiteninsel eG, founded in 2013, whose founding members include the municipality of Weimar as landowner, the city of Marburg, the district of Marburg-Biedenkopf, the friends' association and a regional bank. The state of Hesse covered most of the construction costs. As early as 2014, the Zeiteninsel invited visitors to activity days and educational programs while the reconstructions were gradually built: from 2017 the Bronze Age farmstead and the longhouse of the Rössen culture, from 2018 a Germanic farmstead, and in 2022 a Mesolithic dwelling. From 2023, the Inselzentrum (island center) was built as a reception and event building.

In July 2026, after an opening weekend, the museum began regular operations. On about 3.5 hectares, five time stations – Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman period – present full-size houses that visitors can walk into, based on floor plans from the surrounding area, along with matching plantings and work areas. Volunteer working groups test techniques of experimental archaeology there and demonstrate them on activity days.

Highlights

• Five time stations from the Mesolithic to the Roman period
• Full-size longhouse of the Neolithic Rössen culture
• Bronze Age farmstead with a casting workshop
• Location on an island encircled by the Allna, on the Lahn cycle path
• Weekend living-history days with prehistoric crafts

Permanent exhibitions

• Zeitstation Jungsteinzeit – A full-size longhouse of the Rössen culture conveys the life of the first farmers in the Lahn valley.
• Zeitstation Bronzezeit – The dwelling, storehouse and bronze-casting workshop are based on a house floor plan excavated just a few hundred meters away.
• Zeitstation Römerzeit – A longhouse with living quarters and stable, a barn and a pit house form a Germanic farmstead from around the time of the birth of Christ, on the edge of the Roman Empire.

Founded

2013

Operated by

Zeiteninsel – Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Marburger Land eG

Admission & discounts

Members of the friends' association and the cooperative get free admission. Tickets at the museum ticket desk (cash, debit or credit card); according to the website, online booking is also possible.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

The paths on the outdoor grounds are mostly unpaved dirt tracks and therefore only partly accessible. Information panels in Easy Language; accessible restroom in the Inselzentrum. Inclusive programs in cooperation with Lebenshilfewerk Marburg-Biedenkopf on request.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly: not available
• Kids’ birthday parties

Children's birthday parties (March–October) with Stone Age workshops from age 6 or 8 and a shorter games birthday for younger children; programs for daycare centers and schools. The site is only partially accessible with a stroller. Accompanying adults are responsible for supervision throughout the site.

Getting there & parking

By car via the B 3 (exit Weimar), B 255 toward Niederweimar, and at the roundabout onto the K 42 toward Argenstein. Directly on the Lahn cycle path Marburg–Wetzlar; numerous bicycle racks at the parking lot.

Amenities & dining

No food service of its own listed; in the neighborhood, Café Restaurant Zeitlos on the Lahn cycle path and Gasthaus Ochsenburg. Dogs allowed on a leash.

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit