(c) by Niederrheinisches Freilichtmuseum. All rights reserved.
Description [EN]
In the Grefrath town area the Niederrheinisches Freilichtmuseum preserves the rural and craft culture of the central Lower Rhine and makes it accessible on a site of roughly four hectares. The area around the centrally located Dorenburg has been arranged with original and reconstructed buildings from the region; this creates a spatially structured view of the living and working conditions of past centuries.
The Dorenburg itself plays a mediating role at the centre of the museum grounds: the castle building displays objects relating to the domestic culture of the bourgeoisie and the nobility of the Lower Rhine, and the upper floor hosts changing folkloric special exhibitions with a regional focus.
Farmsteads and workshops are grouped in a ring around the castle, illustrating different aspects of rural everyday life. The Spenneshof from Hagen (Viersen-Süchteln) features a flax dryer and presents pottery, stoneware production, brickmaking and wood-processing trades such as wheelwright, carpenter and cooper. A historic grain distillery from Straelen displays equipment from around 1910. The bark tannery from Moers documents the transition from craft to industrial production with machines from the 1960s and additionally houses shoemaking and saddlery exhibits. Other elements include a historic fire pump house dating from 1779, a steamroller from Soest, as well as farmsteads with implements, carriages, horse harnesses, threshing machines and a bakehouse.
A working village smithy has been set up in the former Dorenburg horse stable; a barn houses the toy museum across three floors with toys from three centuries, including model trains, dollhouses, early video game consoles and soapbox cars. Visitors can explore the grounds on guided tours and experience historical craft practices at special events, such as baking bread in the old stone oven. Regular highlights in the annual calendar are the draft horse gathering on 1 May and the vintage tractor meeting on the last Sunday in September.