Description [EN]
With a focus on regional history, art and culture, Stadtmuseum Bocholt shapes the city’s cultural profile. The museum is located at Osterstr. 66 in a listed building in the Art Deco style and marks the location of the former Ostertor in the Bocholter Befestigungsring. It opened in 1992; it is currently closed due to renovation work.
The exhibition space is spread across four floors. In the basement the emergence and geology of the Aa Valley and the prehistoric and early-historic settlement are presented; the topics range from the Stone Age through the Bronze and Iron Ages to the early Middle Ages under the influence of the Franks and Saxons. Further permanent exhibitions address Bocholt’s development in the Middle Ages, industrialization, and the period of National Socialism and the Second World War.
On the ground floor the economic and social history of the 20th century are central, exemplified by the company A. Friedr. Flender Aktiengesellschaft; temporary exhibitions are also held here. On the upper floor graphic and artistic works are displayed, including works by the copper engraver Israhel van Meckenem jun. (d. 1503), the glass painter Jan van Lintelo (c. 1570, d. 1631/32) and the stage designer Josef Fenneker (1895–1956).
The attic floor is devoted to aspects of historical everyday life, such as blacksmithing and weaving crafts as well as historical children’s toys.
The exhibits include finds from excavations carried out by the Archäologische Gruppe Bocholt in collaboration with the Westfälischen Museum für Archäologie.