Exhibition: Between Boxes and Treasures

How does collecting work in an open-air museum? Which items are included? What is actually valuable? What needs to be considered when storing and preserving items? In this permanent exhibition, we delve into the heart of museum work. Collecting is one of the central tasks of museums. The objects play a particularly important role in this. They are used to commemorate past times and pass on knowledge. Entire exhibitions are based on the objects in the collection because they provide tangible access to the past. This is one of the reasons why a museum's collection is often referred to as its heart. The Wolfegg Farmhouse Museum also collects. Since its foundation, the focus has been on historic houses and objects that tell us more about rural life and everyday life in the Upper Swabia and western Allgäu regions. For this reason, the museum has built 28 buildings and added around 26,000 objects to its collection. The objects are not gilded or of high monetary value. On the contrary, they show cracks, scratches, and signs of wear. They are made of wood, metal, leather, and fabric. They have been used intensively and thus tell their own unique stories about life in the countryside. That is why they are precious to the museum. Many steps are necessary before an object can be added to the collection and preserved. In this exhibition, you can get involved and slip into the role of a museum employee. What is it like to collect for an open-air museum? What do you have to pay attention to? What kind of objects are involved? Would these objects also be precious to you? Find out for yourself!