Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz

Can you imagine a department store transforming into a time machine? Here at the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz, or smac, a former Schocken department store, that’s exactly what happened. This striking building, designed by Erich Mendelsohn in the late 1920s, once showcased the latest fashions. Now, it unveils Saxony’s fascinating past. The Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz opened its doors in 2014, offering a journey through 300,000 years of human history. The museum’s exhibits span from the first hunters and gatherers to the dawn of industrialization. On the first floor at the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz, you’ll encounter the oldest stone tools from Markkleeberg and ancient horse depictions from Groitzsch. You’ll also see the “Glass Neanderthal,” a unique exhibit reminiscent of Dresden’s Glass Man. The second floor unveils farming cultures. See the 7,000-year-old wooden frame of a well from Eythra, one of Europe’s oldest wooden structures. Admire preserved ceramic vessels from Altscherbitz and the Venus of Zauschwitz, a female idol from the early Neolithic period. The third floor of the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz showcases medieval life with artifacts from Saxon city centers. It highlights the influence of mining on Saxon history. A “treasure trove of written records” from the Dresden State Archives offers a glimpse into the past. The journey concludes in 1839 with the opening of the Leipzig-Dresden railway line. Beyond the main exhibits, the Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz holds separate exhibitions within its curved window bays. These delve into Mendelsohn’s architectural work, the history of the Schocken department store, and the life of Salman Schocken, a passionate collector of Jewish books and manuscripts. A dynamic landscape model of Saxony, changing through video projections, floats through all three floors. It offers a visual representation of the land’s transformation throughout history. The Staatliches Museum für Archäologie Chemnitz is more than just a museum. It’s a testament to the enduring power of the past, housed within a building that has itself witnessed remarkable change.