Spitalhof 5
95632 Wunsiedel i. Fichtelgebirge
Phone: +49 9232 2032
Fax: +49 9232 4948
E-mail: info(at)fichtelgebirgsmuseum(dot)de
Open: Tue - Sun 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Since the 1960s, the Museum of the Fichtelgebirge (established in 1907) has been housed in a former old people's home. This so called "Spital" was founded by the Wunsiedel merchant and tin-plater Sigmund Wann in 1451. The Fichtelgebirgsmuseum is a regional museum for the whole area of the Fichtelgebirge.
Special emphasis has been Iaid on the mineral collection containing more than 2,000 exhibits from the Fichtelgebirge, the northern Oberpfälzer Wald, the Münchberg gneiss mass and the Frankenwald. The exhibition on the historical mining activities in the Fichtelgebirge shows their importance for the settlers of this area.
The museum's furniture collection is also of particular interest. It consists mainly of painted furniture from the l8th and l9th centuries. In the ceramics section an exhibition of earthenware, faience, stoneware and porcelain is shown.
The main attraction of the section on cultural history are a number of furnished rooms, for example a bourgeois and a rural living-room-cum-kitchen which were moved to the museum, a servant's chamber, the attic of a Wunsiedel burgher house with stencil painting, a shoemaker's shop and an old-style confectionery shop. Further sections are dedicated to laundry care, enamel dishes and musical instruments. One section has been reserved for contemporary art in the Fichtelgebirge. The writer Jean Paul (1763 - 1825) and the political assassin CarI Ludwig Sand (1795 - 1820) are portrayed at length. Last, but not least, the museum houses sections on regional history ("Sechsämterland") and on the history of the Spital and its residents.
The three museum workshops (blacksmith's shop, pottery and tin foundry), where traditional craftsmanship is shown, are another great attraction of the museum.
Besides the permanent exhibitions covering an area of more than 2000sqm, there is a special exhibition (Sonderausstellung) every three months. Additionally, every month one special object from the museum's collection in store, the so called "Objekt des Monats", is featured.
