Dorfmuseum Unterammergau

In the townscape of Unterammergau, the Dorfmuseum Unterammergau, also called the Dorf- und Wetzstoa-Museum, serves as the municipality's local history museum in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The building is listed as a historic monument in the Bayerischen Denkmalliste and is located in the Oberdorf on the west side of the Dorfplatz.

The museum is housed in the former Forsthaus, a two-storey building with a shallow gable roof dating from the second half of the 18th century. The gable end of the house faces the Dorfplatz.

The museum developed in stages: in 2002 a room was first dedicated to the history of whetstone production; at the initiative of a local historical working group, additional thematic rooms followed, so that between 2006 and 2012 a general local history museum was established.

The exhibition is devoted to the region's traditional occupations, including livestock farming, forestry and whetstone production. On display are, among other items, a grass cart and agricultural implements, as well as a timber sled and tools for timber extraction and transport. Tools and products from whetstone quarries and mills are shown together with a model of a whetstone mill that illustrates the production process. A small side room recreates a historic Beckhütte.

Another section documents flax cultivation and linen weaving. In display cases paleontological and archaeological finds from Unterammergau and the surrounding area are presented, including fossilized ammonites, an ancient helmet, fibulae and coins. Early settlement history is evidenced by a Rhaetian sacrificial site at the unteren Kasten, Rhaetian rock carvings and Roman-period finds such as coin hoards in the Schleifmühlklamm and finds at Burgbichel. Information panels explain the local history; on the upper floor a historic bedchamber is also furnished.