Ever wonder how 14000 years of history fit into one place? That place is the Pommersches Landesmuseum. The Pommersches Landesmuseum in Greifswald is dedicated to preserving and showcasing the history, art, and culture of the former province of Pomerania. The museum aims to promote understanding and reconciliation, especially with the Republic of Poland. This mission is reflected throughout the museum.
The Pommersches Landesmuseum holds 60000 objects spanning 14000 years. Highlights of the gallery include works by Caspar David Friedrich, Vincent van Gogh, and Frans Hals. The museum was established in 1996. This followed the German reunification, which opened new possibilities for exploring Pomerania’s history. The museum strives to contribute to cultural identity and neighborly understanding.
The city of Greifswald and the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University jointly requested the establishment of the Pommersches Landesmuseum in 1992. In 1993, the city provided historic buildings in the city center for this purpose.
The museum consults a scientific advisory board with Polish, Swedish, and Danish members due to Pomerania’s complex history. An architectural competition was held in 1996. Gregor Sunder-Plassmann’s firm won. The museum buildings were renovated and expanded from 1998 and completed in 2005. The Gemäldegalerie opened in May 2000. The entire Pommersches Landesmuseum opened on June 3 2005.
Historian Uwe Schröder led the establishment of the museum from 1995. After 2000, he became its first director. Schröder realized the foundation’s goals. These included preserving Pomerania’s history and emphasizing connections to the Baltic Sea. He received the Pomeranian Culture Prize in 2010. Historian Ruth Slenczka succeeded him in February 2022.
The Pommersches Landesmuseum consists of four buildings connected by a glass hall called the “Museumsstraße”. The main building is a classicist structure built between 1843 and 1845. It served as a poorhouse, replacing the former Franciscan monastery’s cloister building. It was also known as “Graues Kloster”. After World War II, the building housed refugees, the elderly, and displaced people. It was renovated in the 1970s. It was used for social housing until 1999. The main building houses the permanent exhibition on three floors.
The late Gothic Klosterbibliothek and the former Konventsgebäude of the Franciscan monastery are located on the eastern side of the glass hall. The Klosterbibliothek was used by the Greifswald local history museum from 1929. The Konventsgebäude was added in the 1950s. Today, the Klosterbibliothek houses the museum administration and the museum education department. The Konventsgebäude is used for special exhibitions.
The Gemäldegalerie building was originally built as a town school by Johann Gottfried Quistorp from 1793 to 1797. The two-story building was constructed from the stones of the former monastery church.
The permanent exhibition presents 14000 years of southern Baltic Sea history. It uses approximately 2500 objects. The exhibition begins in the basement. It showcases Pomerania’s geological history with exhibits like an 8.5-ton erratic boulder from Jarmen. The museum displays Pomerania’s history from the Stone Age through the Middle Ages to the Reformation. Relics and the Croÿ and Esther carpets are featured on the ground floor. Permanent loans are also exhibited. One of the largest objects is the Trinity altar from the St. Jakobi / Heilgeist parish in Stralsund.
The upper floor presents the Swedish, Prussian, and Imperial periods in Pomerania. It also interactively showcases the region’s 20th-century history. This includes original video and audio recordings.
The Gemäldegalerie spans two floors in the classicist Quistorp building. It displays works from various periods. It primarily consists of collections from the former Museum of the Hanseatic City of Greifswald. It also includes the rescued painting collection of the Stettin Municipal Museum for Art and Crafts. The gallery is currently being renovated. It is expected to reopen in 2025 as the “Gallery of Romanticism”. It will focus on Romanticism. In the meantime, an interim exhibition took place in the Konventsgebäude. It featured selected favorites. In 2024, it was replaced by three consecutive special exhibitions on Caspar David Friedrich.
The museum’s collection includes works by Frans Hals, Caspar David Friedrich, and Vincent van Gogh. Works by Andrea Michieli, Georg Flegel, Wilhelm van Aelst, Cornelis Verbeeck, and Sébastien Bourdon are also on display. The collection also features landscape paintings by Friedrich Wilhelm Hirt, Jakob Phillipp Hackert, and Joseph Anton Koch.
As you leave the Pommersches Landesmuseum, consider the layers of history contained within its walls. From ancient artifacts to masterpieces of art, it is a journey through time.