Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen, Archaeological museum in Ellwangen, Germany.
The Alamannenmuseum displays archaeological finds from a major Alamannic cemetery with jewelry, weapons, and everyday items from southern regions. The collection spans roughly five centuries of settlement history and offers a view of how people lived in that era.
The museum opened in 2001 in the Nikolauspflege, a listed complex built in 1593 as one of southwest Germany's oldest almshouses and leper hospitals. Its core comes from excavations at Lauchheim: the Wasserfurche cemetery, dug 1986–1996 under Ingo Stork, held over 1300 graves of the later 5th to later 7th century across about 1.5 hectares. Nearby Mittelhofen yielded settlement traces of the 6th to 11th centuries.
The exhibits reveal how Alamannic people lived through the objects they made and used, with visible evidence of weaving, metalwork, and woodworking skills. The collection also shows how beliefs and daily practices were connected to their craft traditions.
The building is fully accessible for visitors with limited mobility, making it easy to move through the exhibits. It is best to check opening times in advance since the museum has specific days and hours when it welcomes guests.
The permanent display centres on the Lauchheim cemetery, excavated from 1986 to 1996 under Ingo Stork: over 1,300 graves covering about 1.5 hectares, the largest documented early medieval cemetery in southwest Germany. A partly reconstructed pit house with a loom shows Alamannic textile work.
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