German Leather Museum, Leather museum in Offenbach am Main, Germany
The German Leather Museum is a specialist museum in Offenbach am Main dedicated to the history and use of leather in everyday life, art, and craft. The collection covers shoes, saddles, furniture, armor, toys, and ethnographic objects gathered from across the world.
The museum was founded in 1917 by architect Hugo Eberhardt, originally to train craftspeople and designers in leatherwork. Over time it opened to the general public and grew into one of the leading collections of its kind in Europe.
The museum's three collections are the Applied Art collection, the Ethnological collection and the German Shoe Museum. The ethnological displays include one of the world's most important collections of shadow puppets made from parchment, from China, Southeast Asia, Egypt and Turkey. North American sections focus on the Diné, Hopi, Blackfoot and Sioux.
The museum sits on Frankfurter Strasse in Offenbach am Main and is easy to reach by public transport. It is open Tuesday through Sunday and the building is fully accessible for wheelchair users.
The museum holds one of the largest shoe collections in the world, ranging from Roman sandals to modern designer footwear. What surprises many visitors is that a number of these shoes were never meant to be worn but were made as models or teaching pieces for craftspeople.
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