History of the Museum

“The Kaiser Friedrich Museum aims to be a place that makes it easier for every resident of the city to understand the cultural world in which they live, and thus deepen their enjoyment of existence”,

is how founding director Theodor Volbehr (1862-1931) described the mission of his museum at its opening in 1906.

The Museum of Cultural History Magdeburg originated from the former Kaiser Friedrich Museum and is still located in the historic building that opened its doors in 1906.

Even if we use more modern terms today, the task of our museum has remained the same: we place the history of Magdeburg in a European context and enable the people of Magdeburg and visitors from outside the city to engage with the art and cultural history of the city and Europe.

The most famous monument of our house is the Magdeburger Reiter (Magdeburg Rider). Have you seen the original yet? The Magdeburger Reiter and his two accompanying figures now stand in one of the most beautiful rooms in the city, the medieval-style Emperor Otto Hall of the Museum of Cultural History Magdeburg. Here you will find the → MAGDEBURGER REITER, the oldest freestanding equestrian statue north of the Alps (approximately 1240), as well as the monumental painting by Arthur Kampf “Three Murals from the Life of Otto the Great” from 1906.

Auf dem Bild ist der Magdeburger Reiter zu sehen. Aus der Froschperspektive sieht man Otto den Großen auf einem Pferd sitzen. Er trägt eine große Krone und einen Umhang. Seine Hände sind geballt und halten die symbolischen Zügel.

The permanent exhibition → MAGDEBURG – DIE GESCHICHTE DER STADT (“Magdeburg – The History of the City”) traces the turbulent history of the medieval metropolis, its two complete destructions (1631 and 1945), the respective reconstruction, life in the Prussian fortress city, the city of “New Building” in the 1920s, the period of the GDR until the “peaceful revolution” of 1989 and the appointment of Magdeburg as the capital of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. We regularly offer → special exhibitions on special topics in art and cultural history.

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