Antiquities Exhibits

Ancient treasures of Thuringia at the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of Thuringia in Weimar, Germany. Known as the Hermunduren to Tacitus, the Thurgingii lived in settlements with ground-level post houses and raised cattle. They were also skilled metalworkers and faithful allies to the Romans. Exhibits include glass and bronze objects, weapons, jewelery and shiny red relief decorated tableware known as terracotta sigill ata ceramics as well as grave goods from the richly equipped Germanic grave of the "Princess of Haßleben." Other exhibit areas include finds from the Stone Age, Neolithic Period, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Franconian Period, and Middle Ages. Image: A reconstructed Thuringian grave. Image courtesy of the Museum of Prehistory and Early History of Thuringia.

Antique Museum and Casting Collection of the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Heidelberg in Heidelberg, Germany. The Antiquities Museum offers visitors a broad overview of the ancient Mediterranean cultures from the 3rd millennium BCE to the Roman Empire. Painted Greek and Etruscan vases as well as clay pots, clay figures and clay reliefs are the focus of the exhibit. The cast collection of antique sculptur es is one of the largest such facilities at German universities. The plaster casts trace the development of Greek sculpture from its beginnings to the Roman Empire. The gallery housing the casts is currently being rennovated so will be closed until 2020. Heidelberg University casts of the Parthenon Marbles. Image courtesy of Heidelberg University.

Roman weapons, equipment, and anitque artillery at the The LVR-RömerMuseum in Xanten, Germany.  This exhibit is centered around a column formed of legionnaire's helmets representing the ten thousand Roman soldiers who garrisoned the legion fortress at Xanten from 15 BCE when Xanten served as the base camp of Legio VI Victrix until the 5th century when Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix, which had replaced Legio VI Victrix in 122 CE, abandon ed the camp after repeated assaults by Germanic tribes. The exhibition also includes objects from the Roman city, Colonia Ulpia Traiana, that illustrate the daily life of the Romans, their crafts and trades as well as the economic importance of the city including a Roman ship that floats in the air between two levels of the display and funerary monuments and votive objects. The museum is the centerpiece of the archaeological park that includes remains of the city's forum, temples, public baths, and a restored amphitheater. Xanten's Archaeologic...

The Roman past of Augusta Treverorum.  Ongoing.  At the Rheinische Landesmuseum in Trier, Germany.  The collection of this archaeological museum stretches from prehistory through the Roman period, the Middle Ages up to the Baroque era with a strong emphasis on the Roman past of Augusta Treverorum, Germany's oldest city. Its collections of (local) Roman sculptures, Roman mosaics and frescos are among the best in Germany. Reconstructed frescos are either from town houses or public buildings in Augusta Treverorum, or from villae rusticae in the vicinity. The museum also has a fine collection of Roman glass and the largest gold coin hoard ever found containing 2,650 aurei. Image: Mosaic floor depicting a chariot racer named "Polydus" from the Roman Imperial Baths in Trier 3rd century CE.  Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and the Rheinische Landesmuseum  Funerary stone monument found in Neumagen in the shape of a rowing ship for transport of wine barr...

Ancient Worlds. Greeks, Etruscans and Romans Ongoing at the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany. The Greek hero Meleager Roman copy of Greek original in the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany.  Image by Richard Mortel courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. The new exhibition on the main floor of the Altes Museum starts with the 'Age of Heroes', from 1000 to 700 BCE. Statues of warriors and helmets stand alongside images of griffins and lions that are distinctly Eastern in character. Right from the outset, the visitor's gaze is drawn towards the next rooms containing archaic temples and tomb monuments dating from the 6th century BCE. The section 'Life and Death in Athens', meanwhile, sheds light on all facets of everyday life in the capital of classical antiquity. Related link: https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/altes-museum/about-the-collections/collections.html

Roman and Germanic Art from Pre-history to the early Middle Ages.  Ongoing. At the Central Museum for Roman and Germanic Art in Mainz, ancient Mogontiacum, Germany.  Statue of a Persian Soldier at the Central Museum for Roman and Germanic Art in Mainz, Germany. Collections include ancient jewelry, coins, portrait sculptures, helmets, funerary monuments, ivory reliefs, and  five ships dating from the third and fourth centuries salvaged from the ancient harbor basin of Mainz.