Agrarmuseum Wandlitz

Description

At the centre of the Naturpark Barnim, the Barnim-Panorama (stylised as BARNIM PANORAMA) serves as a combined visitor centre and agricultural museum, presenting the region's natural and agricultural history. The complex, officially named BARNIM PANORAMA Naturparkzentrum • Agrarmuseum Wandlitz, is located at Breitscheidstraße 8–9 in the Wandlitz district and is owned by the municipality of Wandlitz.

The present institution was formed in 2013 by merging the previously independent Agrarmuseum Wandlitz and the Naturparkzentrum. The museum's roots go back to 1955, when a local Heimatstube was founded; over time this developed into a museum that bore a different name in 1975 and was continued after 1990 as the Agrarmuseum Wandlitz. Because of a lack of space and a desire for a more modern presentation, the municipality built a new complex opposite the original site; the laying of the foundation stone and the ceremonial opening took place between 2011 and 2013.

The building is modelled on the form of a historic three-sided farmstead (Dreiseithof) and incorporates the listed municipal school as the seat of administration. The new building was realised with public funding; construction costs amounted to around 6.2 million euros. In front of the building there is a walk-on floor map, and the outdoor area offers seating and play facilities; the exhibition hall with glazed displays houses historic tractors and machinery.

The Barnim-Panorama preserves the largest collection of agricultural history in Brandenburg and, in six themed rooms, presents the roughly two-hundred-year development of agriculture in the region. The collection includes operational tractors, a historic steam plough displayed outdoors, objects related to rural household economy and village crafts, as well as the exhibits from the original Heimatstube. A large-format multimedia projection without voice-over illustrates the formation of the Barnim landscape. An original land-reform document from Wandlitz was loaned to a museum in Potsdam. In spring 2022, the large windows of the visitor centre were retrofitted with special dot films to reduce bird strikes.