The collection
The collection contains around 60,000 artefacts from art, culture, history, natural history, folklore and technology from the Salzland district. Some areas of the collection are of supra-regional importance, such as shipping on the Elbe and the history of salt. However, only a small part can be exhibited permanently. The remaining collections are shown in special exhibitions. Another part of the collection is on loan to other museums such as the Museum of Technology in Berlin or the Museum of Cultural History in Magdeburg.
Tour of the Salzland Museum
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Salt spu(e)rs
The name of the exhibition "Salzspu(e)ren" means both "finding traces of salt" and "feeling the salt". It explains the regional salt production and the history of salt mining in more detail: from the discovery of the brine springs in Groß Salze, to the work of the boilers and the Pfännerschaft through to industrial processing in the later Prussian salt works. The "white gold" not only lends its name to the Salzland Museum and the Salzland district. Its influence is particularly recognisable in the Bad Salzelmen district. The splendidly decorated St John's Church and the former town hall, where the Salzland Museum is located, bear witness to the medieval wealth derived from the salt trade. The profitable production of salt also had a formative influence on the development of industry in Schönebeck and the region over the centuries.
Lifestreams
After the last ice age, the Elbe, Saale and Bode rivers developed into veritable lifelines in today's Salzland district. The three river courses are still the basis for a large number of creatures today, for example the Elbe beaver. On the brink of extinction, the population of beavers, the symbolic animal of the Elbe floodplains, was preserved with the help of nature reserves and has been steadily increasing again.
However, not only the animal world, but also the people living along the rivers were characterised by shipping. The hard labour of the boatmen and the humble existence of the sailors are examined in equal measure to the technically developing means of transport on the water. From simple rafts, Hanseatic cogs and yaw rope ferries to steamboats and chain ships ─ all of these means of transport contributed to the importance of inland shipping in the global trade of goods right up to the 20th century.
Pömmelte ring shrine
In the first half of the 20th century, it was primarily Wolfgang Wanckel, a shipowner and local historian from Schönebeck (Elbe), who investigated the region around Schönebeck. Through meticulous research, he and his colleagues were able to compile a valuable early history collection for today's Salzland Museum. It provides an insight into the lives of our ancestors from the Neolithic Age to the early Bronze Age.
In 2016, the ring sanctuary near Pömmelte, which was built around 4,300 years ago, was reconstructed following archaeological excavations on site. The permanent exhibition at the Salzland Museum displays the artefacts unearthed during the excavations ─ including skulls, arrowheads and grave goods. Other original artefacts from the region are also on display, providing an insight into the life of the early cultures and their use of the circular ditch. The exhibition also explores the various sensory levels of the sanctuary, which emphasise the site as a very special place of worship.
A visit to the Salzland Museum can be combined with a tour of the ring shrine not far from Schönebeck. The ring shrine is freely accessible all year round.
Salzland district