Historical Museum of the Palatinate

The Historical Museum of the Palatinate, along with the Youth Museum are synonymous with interesting exhibitions, fascinating interactive activities, informative knowledge transfer, and entertaining events. Exhibitions of the collection present the history of the region from prehistory through Roman antiquity and on to the present day.
Well over 300,000 visitors come every year to our building, lured by exhibitions that have great visitor appeal. Until now, our most successful exhibitions were “The Knights” (2003), “The Pirates” (2006), the “Samurai” (2008), “The Vikings” (2009), “Amazons” (2011) and “The Salians” (2011). But our popularity does not only stem from our special exhibitions but also from unusual events like rock concerts, costume and other parties and game tournaments. As a result, we are not only the most visited museum in the Rhineland-Palatinate but we are also one of the most visited museums in all of Germany.

Collections
The Museum hosts five permanent exhibitions based on our collection: “Prehistory”, “Roman Period“, “Modern Era” as well as the “Cathedral Treasure” and the “Wine Museum” provide a multifaceted overview of the history and development of the Palatinate. Highlights, new presentations, and participatory exhibits in the Youth Museum keep our exhibitions continuously fresh.

Youth Museum
Since 1999, the Historical Museum of the Palatinate has hosted the first Children’s and Youth Museum in the Rhineland-Palatinate. A visit to the Youth Museum of Speyer (Jumus) offers children and young persons an age-appropriate and stimulating approach to culture and history. Interactive participatory exhibits, hands-on exhibits, and experience-oriented staging are designed to make history fun. The participatory exhibits of the Youth Museum of Speyer, like “A long voyage with the Vikings” (2009), “Witches” (2010) or “Castel Drachenfels” (2011).

Special Exhibitions
An important component of our event program are the changing special exhibitions which, because they are mostly supra-regional, call attention to Speyer and the Palatinate as they draw large numbers of visitors. The emphasis here is not just on the
history of the Palatinate but on the artistic and cultural history of Europe up to the present day.

Intermediation/Support Program
The Historical Museum of the Palatinate has among its goals, not just the classic museum activities of collection, preservation and research, but also visitor-oriented communication. To accomplish this, the Museum is not just producing special exhibitions but also many educational offerings such as tours and workshops that typically accompany exhibitions as well as special events such as lecture series, concerts, readings, craft days, vacation programs and much more.