4 museums in Trier highlight region history

  • Published
  • By Iris Reiff
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  A great way to experience ancient Trier and the Roman Empire is by visiting one of the city's museums.

People can either walk through the museum halls and rooms at their own path, with an audio-guide or catalogue, or follow a guided museum's tour in the English language.

Four major historic museums are:

Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, or Rhineland Regional Museum and Roman Museum of Trier

The Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Trier is a museum showcasing Roman antiquities. Visitors can expect to walk and learn from collections that are grouped into four sections: prehistoric, Roman, Franconian-Merovingian and medieval. The largest collection in displays features Roman artifacts to include tombs, mosaics and daily objects from the Roman Empire. Numerous reliefs from funerary monuments show the daily life of the Romans.

One of the museum's exhibits is the Mosel Ship, a sculpture of a wine-bearing vessel crowning a big burial monument from 220 AD. Other highlights of the exhibit are a mosaic of Bacchus from the dining room of a Roman villa and a scale model of the Roman city of Trier that provides an overview of the entire city.

People can also find displays of many other mosaics and frescoes, including an exhibit on how mosaics are made; ceramics; glassware; a 2,700-year-old Egyptian casket complete with a mummy; a coin collection; and prehistoric and medieval art and sculpture. The museum offers a 45-minute multimedia show which takes place in a room filled with original Roman memorial grave stones. The story presented talks about a man looking for his deceased wife in the underworld, a world inhabited by shadows of formerly living souls, where he is willingly taken by the god Mercury. As he searches for his wife, he meets the many people behind the various memorial stones on display.

The museum, which offers free audio phone guides in English, is open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Guided group tours may enter 9:30 a.m. Tuesday through Friday with prior arrangements. Latest admission time is 4:30 p.m.

Admission is 6 Euro per adult or 4 Euro for groups, 4 Euro for college students, 3 Euro for children up to age 18, 1 Euro for 10 students or more and free for children up to age 6.

The Trier Rheinische Landesmuseum is located on Weimarer Allee 1 in Trier. A few parking lots are available near the museum, however, it is recommended to park outside the center of Trier and take public transporation to the center of town and the museum.

Stadtmuseum Simeonstift, Municipal Museum

People can find the Stadtmuseum or Municipal Museum next to the Porta Nigra Simeonstift.

The museum hosts collections from both Trier's medieval and early modern eras to personal donations, to include the famous Schunck collection of paintings from the Renaissance time to the twentieth century and a collection of Coptic textiles, dating from the third to the ninth centuries. Altogether, more than 300 pieces are on display at the Stadtmuseum.

People can also view Egyptian mummy portraits, Coptic statuettes and antique oil lamps.

There is also a restaurant in the basement where people can take a break to enjoy a cup of coffee or tea.

The museum is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday . Entry costs 5.50 Euro per person, 4 Euro for students and groups of 10 or more and free for children up to age 10. Additional entry reductions are available to visitors. Audio guides are provided free of charge in German, English and French.

The Trier Stadmuseum Simeonstift is located on Simeonstrasse 55 in Trier. Parking is not available near the museum. People must park in an official parking lot, take public transportation or walk to the museum.

Bischöfliches Museum, Bishop's Museum

The Bishop's Museum is located near the Trier Dom cathedral inside a building that was a Prussian prison and dates back to the 19th century. People can find an art collection of the Diocese of Trier, including mainly early Christian art. Some highlights of the museum are a third century ceiling fresco from the imperial palace over which Trier Cathedral was built; a reconstructed crypt of the Benedictine church of St. Maximin; a collection of Roman textiles and medieval church vestments; original Early Gothic statues from the Liebfrauenkirche; creations of sculptors, ivory carvers and goldsmiths; and the tomb of Bishop Karl von Metternich, who represented the archbishop during the Thirty Years' War.

The museum is open 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 - 5 p.m. Sunday and holidays.

Entry costs 3.50 Euro for adults, 2 Euro for students, 3 Euro for school groups and groups of more than 10 adults pay per person, 6 Euro for families covering two adults and children up to age 18.

The museum is located on Windstraße 6-8 in Trier. Parking is not available near the museum. It is best if people park outside the city center and take public transportation or walk to the museum.

Karl Marx Birthhouse

Not only was Karl Marx born here, but his birthplace serves as a museum today and shows the life, work and influence of Karl Marx from the past to the present. Books, documents and other visuals focus on the development of Marx's philosophical and economic ideas and their influence on the course of history.

The front of the Karl Marx birthhouse was built in 1727, and the house was completely restored to its original look from older models in 1930 - 1931. The annexes in the back of the building date back to the 19th century.

The Karl Marx museum is open 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily and 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. the first Friday of each month until October; and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and 2 -5 p.m. Monday November through March.

Entry costs 3 Euro per adult, 2 Euro per child or students, 2 Euro per person for groups of 15 people or more and 6 Euro for family members.

The Karl Marx birthhouse can be found off the pedestrian area in Trier, located on Brueckenstrasse 10. Parking is not available at the museum. People must take public transportation or walk to the museum.

Reduced tickets to Trier's tourist sites, including the museums can be obtained via the Trier tourist information office, located near the Porta Nigra.