Potsdam Museum, Museum of art and regional history in Potsdam, Germany
Potsdam Museum is an art museum in the city center that focuses on regional art collections and historical artifacts spread across multiple floors. The exhibitions display works by local artists and objects from different periods that document the city's story.
Citizens founded the Museumsverein on 20 April 1909 to create a municipal museum, after 485 patriotic objects had been donated; a collection raised 15,000 Mark for the first exhibition in the north wing of the Alte Rathaus. The city took over the collections in 1917. After wartime evacuations and the 14 April 1945 bombing that destroyed most inventories, the museum reopened in 1946 and returned to the Alte Rathaus in 2012.
The museum's name reflects Potsdam's local past, and its spaces show how the city and its people evolved over time. Visitors can see how artworks and everyday objects together tell who lived here and what mattered to them.
The museum is centrally located and easy to reach on foot, with clear signage and access points across multiple levels. Plan at least one to two hours to explore the exhibitions at a comfortable pace.
The museum's graphics collection holds town views of Potsdam from the late 17th century onward. Among the earliest are copper engravings and etchings by Jean Baptiste Broebes, Johann David Schleuen the Elder and Andreas Ludwig Krüger, recording the building work around the Stadtschloss and the Alten Markt.
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