Museum Hameln – Leisthaus & Stiftsherrenhaus

One of the forerunners of the museum is the collection of Friedrich Wilhelm Haspelmath, born in Hameln in 1790, who had purchased many objects during his travels and exhibited them in a tower in the old city wall. The tower and the collection later went as a donation to the Museum Association, which was founded in 1898 "for the collection and preservation of antiquities of the city and the district Hameln".

In 1910, the siblings Adolph and Friederike Wallbaum gave the Museum Association the Leisthaus, in which the museum was given a permanent place after extensive renovation. With the opening in 1912, the history of the museum began as an independent house, as it now presented under one roof the Haspelmath collection, the objects acquired by the Museum Association and the previously housed in the attic of the town hall urban collections.

During the Second World War, important stocks were outsourced; the Leisthaus was damaged in artillery attacks. In 1946, the museum association transferred ownership of the building to the city of Hameln, but continued to operate the museum. In the late 1940s, the museum was reopened to the public.

In 1977 a full-time museum director was hired for the hitherto honorary-run house. As part of a renewed renovation, the museum was extended to the upper floors of the neighboring canons house and both houses connected by a transition.

The last restoration of both buildings took place from 2008 to 2011. Archaeological investigations were carried out in the hall of the Leisthaus, and the objects found can be seen in the museum. Parallel to the construction work, the permanent exhibition was redesigned. The reopening took place in 2011 in the presence of the then Lower Saxony Prime Minister David McAllister.
Opening hours:
Tue - Sun 11 am - 6 pm
Mo by appointment
Holiday regulation - the house is closed on the following holidays:
Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Good Friday
On all other public holidays, the museum is open from 11 am to 6 pm, also on Easter Monday and Whit Monday.
Source (museum-hameln.de)

The museum is located in Osterstraße in 2 buildings in the old town, the Leisthaus and the neighboring canons' house. The two buildings are among the most important buildings from the Weser Renaissance period in Hameln.

Access by appointment only