sam - City museum on the market
The "sam - Stadtmuseum am Markt" has found its temporary home in the Marktkeller. On around 1,300 square meters, you can discover the history of the Hessian state capital.
Even the location tells a story: The Stadtmuseum am Markt displays its exhibitions in the historic market cellar directly below the Dern site. The collection comprises around 350,000 objects - and as you walk through the museum, you should always take a look up at the artfully walled vaulted ceiling.
The permanent exhibition is curated in such a way that no one need fear getting lost in an excess of exhibits. On the contrary: the pieces tell stories from Wiesbaden's past - also thanks to their good accompanying texts. There is the pickelhaube worn by Duke Adolf von Nassau when he had to abdicate in September 1866 and bring home his defeated troops in the war against Prussia. Or the green, gas-powered street lamp with which Wiesbaden set new standards as a world spa town in 1847. The exhibits date back to Roman times - and right up to the present day. During the pandemic, the SAM called on citizens to send pictures and videos of objects that show how Corona has changed the city. The museum is thinking about the future and wants to document today what will be history tomorrow.
Museum visitors can also vote for their personal favorite piece in the museum. The most voted objects are presented in the exhibition and online: Winners have already included a silver beard brush or a cake server from the imperial era, with an engraved image of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Neroberg. A popular souvenir in the days of the cosmopolitan spa town, it was a subtle way of showing guests at the coffee table that you had treated yourself to a stay in elegant Wiesbaden.
Address:
Market square
65183 Wiesbaden
The exhibition "Wiesbaden's favorite pieces of the city's history"
In sam, visitors will have the opportunity for the first time to gain an overview of Wiesbaden's history from prehistory and early history to the present day in the "Wiesbaden's Favorites" exhibition. The selection of objects focuses on the themes of "Wiesbaden as a bathing city and city of water" and "Wiesbaden as a political center".
Treasury
The Nassau Antiquities Collection (SNA) is Sam's most valuable "treasure": in future, a specially designed room within the market cellar will offer the opportunity to present outstanding items from the SNA, one of the region's most important cultural and historical collections. In other words, the collection itself will be the subject here.
The market cellar
The market cellar was built in 1900 as a vaulted cellar complex with a square floor plan and a floor area of around 1,300 square meters. The vendors of the Wiesbaden market, which took place in the area above the cellar, stored their goods here. Converted into a "market hall" and renovated in 1999, it will serve as a new exhibition venue for the city museum from September 2016.