Constance on Lake Constance is almost an open-air museum with its historic centre, the Minster and the statue of Imperia on the harbour. But not only that: it’s also a city of museums. The exhibition centres have a varied offer for children and adolescents. Their entrance fees are very family-friendly, and many of them are accessible.
The history of Constance and Lake Constance: the Rosgarten Museum and the Archäologische Landesmuseum
The Rosgarten Museum is located in the centre of Constance. It can also be visited by wheelchair users, there are parking garages near it.
Its historic hall houses a permanent exhibition on the history of Constance. Here you can see among the exhibits a glacial scribble drawing in a reindeer antler, which is 12,000 years old.
Constance is particularly well-known and famous for its medieval council, which was held between 1414 and 1418 between secular rulers and the Catholic church leadership. In addition, you can admire the chronicle of Ulrich Richental, who has recorded the advice in more than 100 colour drawings.
At the beginning of the 20th century Constance was an important ceramics centre, where pieces were made in Art Nouveau or Art Deco. The museum shows exhibits of the 1857-born and craftswoman Elisabeth Schmidt-Pecht, who worked in Constance.
The Rosgartenmuseum is open from Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 17:00. It’s closed on Mondays. It offers free admission on Wednesdays from 2 pm and the first Sunday of the month, guided tours are available during the day or in the evening. For students, the museum offers hands-on activities on the past, such as Stone Age to touch, where historical tools are used. Please note that photographing the exhibits is not allowed.
The Archaeological State Museum of Baden-Württemberg is located in Constance, since many artifacts from prehistory and antiquity have been excavated in the Lake Constance region.
It shows exciting things from the early history of the country with a lot of imagination and creativity. In addition to Playmobil figures, which represented the construction of the stilt houses of Lake Constance, there were already fashion shows for boys and girls with the clothes of the Roman province of Rätien, to which Lake Constance belonged.
Nature and water: the Sea Life and the Lake Constance Natural History Museum
The Sea Life Konstanz is an aquarium on the shores of Lake Constance. In 35 natural pools you can see over 3000 fish and aquatic animals from the seas and inland waters of the whole earth. The world of the Red Sea is just as fascinating as the special exhibition of turtles.
The Sea Life is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00, in the summer months of July and August even one hour longer until 18:00. Purchase your tickets online, they are then 50 % cheaper than at the cashier.
The day ticket also entitles you to visit the Bodensee-Naturmuseum. It is handicapped accessible and has the same opening hours as the Sea Life. In this museum you learn with life-sized animal exhibits more about the origin of Lake Constance and its natural spatial development. For children, the play and adventure area stones in the river is popular. In the quarry they can knock out fossils and make discoveries at the game stations.
The Konstanz Cultural Center and the Wessenberg Gallery
Art and culture lovers visit the cultural center at Münster, which is made up of the city library, the community college and the education tower. The lower floors of the tower, originally used as a residential building, date back to around 1200. It is therefore one of the oldest examples of Konstanz architecture. Today, the city’s colleges and schools use the sprawling building as an information center and for the transfer of all kinds of knowledge.
The cultural center also houses the Wessenberg Gallery. It is accessible to wheelchair users and there are two parking garages nearby.
This Stadtgalerie has a small, permanent exhibition of Southwest German paintings of the 19th and 20th centuries and holds temporary special exhibitions. Find out about their current thematic focus on the Internet or on Facebook.
The gallery is open from Tuesday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 17:00. It is closed on Monday. For children and young people own educational programs are offered. Please also note here that the photographing of the exhibits is not permitted.
A half-timbered house for Jan Hus
The Czech reformer Jan Hus defended his reform of the church structure at the Council of Constance and was sentenced in the year 1415 to death at the stake. The Hus-Haus is dedicated to him, where the exhibitions inform about his life and work. When children run through the exhibition, they can test their newly acquired knowledge in a quiz.
The Hus-Haus is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11am. It closes at 17:00 from April to September and 16:00 from October to March. It’s closed on Mondays.
For your museum visits in Constance, the Gästehaus Centro offers the right accommodation. You can book here!