From Winkelhof to Quelle prefabricated house: history up close at the LVR open-air museum in Kommern
Chickens roam freely between the houses, cows graze in the meadows, the smell of bread wafts through the air - it could hardly be more idyllic. At the LVR Open-Air Museum Kommern, visitors stroll through villages as they once stood in the Rhineland. In the Eifel, Lower Rhine, Bergisches Land, Westerwald and Marktplatz Rheinland sections, there are historical buildings from the former Prussian Rhine Province. Farms, windmills, workshops as well as communal buildings such as schoolhouses, bakehouses, dance halls and chapel can be explored.
How did people live in these villages in past centuries? How did they earn their living? Visitors take a journey through time and look over the shoulders of craftsmen and farmers as they go about their work. The journey begins at the end of the 15th century and continues into the more recent past with the Quelle prefabricated house and milk bar. The architectural monuments are embedded in a museum landscape with fields, farm gardens and orchards.
Of houses and inhabitants
The house from Kalsbach in the Oberbergisch region, for example, was built in 1667 and served as a home, stable and farm building for a moderately wealthy farming family. The windmill from Cantrup dates back to 1780 and grain was ground here for many decades. The parish hall from Löhndorf in the Westerwald served as a bakery and school for the inhabitants of the village.
Visitors can experience with all their senses how people used to live and work in the Rhineland. Craftsmen provide insights into their work: a blacksmith, a mousetrap maker, a wheelwright, a weaver and a beekeeper show how they used to work.
Animals in the museum
Visitors of all ages can explore the houses in which people lived at their leisure. And they will encounter all kinds of animals on the grounds, as the museum not only wants to show how people lived, but also what they grew in the fields and gardens and which animals belonged on the farm.
Exploring the 20th century
History continues to be written in Kommern: The Rhineland marketplace is dedicated to the second half of the 20th century. Some visitors will be reminded of their childhood and youth, "oh yes, I remember that from before". Incidentally, the buildings are not replicas, but were dismantled at their original locations and rebuilt in the museum. The Quelle prefabricated house, for example: In the 1960s, it was possible to order houses from the mail order catalog. In Kommern, a house from 1965 is on display, with which the Uhlmann couple in the Puhlheim district of Stommelerbusch fulfilled a great dream. Many other buildings on the Rhineland marketplace bring back memories and children can see how their parents and grandparents lived when they were young.
Exhibitions and markets
In addition to the building groups with their buildings and inhabitants, the permanent exhibition "WirRheinländer" invites visitors to take a journey through the history of the Rhineland and the living conditions of its people from the French occupation in 1794 to the early years of the economic miracle around 1955. There are also changing special exhibitions. Many events - spread throughout the year - round off the open-air museum's offerings: from workshops for children and adults to festivals and markets lasting several days. The Anno Dazumal fair , for example, takes place every year around Easter time, there are "ZeitBlenden" events that take visitors back in time to exactly 50 years ago, a harvest festival is celebrated in September and in Advent, "Advent for all the senses" gets visitors in the mood for the Christmas season.
This host has become a "Sustainable Destination_Partner" certified.
