Historical Museum of the Palatinate facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Historical Museum of the Palatinate

Historisches Museum der Pfalz
Museum of the Palatinate – Entrance at the Cathedral Square
Established	1869 (1869)
Location	Speyer, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Type	Museum
Collection size	About 1 million artifacts
Visitors	200,000 per year

The Historical Museum of the Palatinate (which in German is Historisches Museum der Pfalz) is a super cool museum in the city of Speyer, Germany. It's right across from the famous Speyer Cathedral. This museum is all about the history of the Palatinate area.

Imagine this: the museum has about 1 million amazing old items! The oldest one is a hand axe that's around 190,000 years old. That's older than dinosaurs! This museum is one of the most important in Germany. It's famous for its special shows that change often. More than 200,000 people visit every year, making it a top spot in Speyer.

Museum History

The museum first opened its doors in 1869. It brought together many different collections from local groups and the city. The main building you see today was built in 1910. Later, in 1990, a modern new part was added.

Awesome Exhibitions

The Historical Museum of the Palatinate, with its modern addition.

The museum has two main types of shows: permanent ones and special ones. The permanent shows always focus on the history of the Palatinate region. But the special shows can be about all sorts of exciting historical topics from around the world!

Special Exhibitions

These are some of the cool special exhibitions the museum has hosted:

• "Germany and the World Football Championships since 1954" (2004): This show celebrated 50 years since Germany won the World Football Championship in 1954.
• "Looted and Sunk in the Rhine – The Barbarian’s Treasure of Neupotz" (2006): This amazing exhibit showed over 1,000 pieces of silver, bronze, and iron. These items, like weapons, tools, and coins, weighed more than 700 kg! They were found in the Rhine River, where they had sunk 1,700 years ago. It's the biggest collection of Roman-era metals ever found in Europe!
• "Attila and the Huns" (2007)
• "The Samurai" (2008)
• "The Vikings" (2009)
• "Witches – Myth and Reality" (2010)
• "Amazons – Mysterious Female Warriors" (2010/2011)
• "The Salian Dynasty – Changing Power" (2011)
• "Discovering Egypt’s Treasures. Masterworks from the Egyptian Museum in Turin" (2012)

Permanent Exhibitions

The Golden Hat of Schifferstadt, a famous prehistoric artifact.

The museum has five main permanent exhibitions. They cover a huge area of 8,000 square meters! These shows explore Prehistory, the Roman Era, the Cathedral Treasure, the Modern Era, and even a Wine Museum.

• Cathedral Treasure: This section holds important items from the Salian Dynasty. One special piece is the imperial crown of Conrad II from 1039.
• The Emperor's Last Clothes: Here, you can see how experts restored and saved pieces of clothing found in old royal graves in the Speyer Cathedral.
• Prehistory: This exhibit takes you on a journey through time. It shows how people lived in the Palatinate from the very first discoveries until the Romans arrived. A super famous item here is the Golden Hat of Schifferstadt.
• Roman Era: Discover what life was like when the Romans were in the Palatinate. This area was once part of a Roman province called Upper Germany. A cool item is the head of a centaur, which is about 2,000 years old!
• Modern Era: Learn about history from the Renaissance period all the way to the end of World War II. You can see beautiful Frankental China, old paintings, and fancy gowns. There's even the German Flag (black-red-gold) from the Hambach Festival.
• Wine Museum: This unique collection has amazing items related to wine. It even has the oldest wine ever found! It's called the Speyer wine bottle and dates back to the 4th century.
• Evangelical Church of the Palatinate: This exhibition shows how the Protestant Church and the history of the Palatinate are closely linked.

The Young Museum

The "Forum," a covered courtyard inside the museum.

This is a special part of the museum just for kids! It's designed to help children learn about history in a fun way. The Young Museum offers workshops during school holidays. It also has special programs for school classes.

The Forum

The museum has a large covered courtyard called "The Forum." It's 650 square meters big! This space is used for all sorts of events. You might find concerts, workshops, theater shows, or discussions happening here.