Archäologisches Museum der WWU

Description

The Archäologische Museum der Universität Münster in the Fürstenberghaus on the Domplatz in Münster is closely linked to the teaching and research activities of the Institut für Klassische und Frühchristliche Archäologie and at the same time makes its holdings accessible to the interested public. Visitors gain insight into archaeological questions, working methods and research results; the exhibition focus is on objects of Greek antiquity.

The origins of the collection date back to 1883, when classical archaeology was established at the university and initial holdings, primarily casts of ancient sculptures, were assembled. Further additions in the early years came through additional casts and duplicates from other collections. The original collection was lost during the Second World War; only from 1958 did reconstruction begin, initially as a teaching collection again with casts, later supplemented by originals. Subsequently the museum also presented exhibits outside Münster and accepted numerous loans from private collections.

The permanent exhibition documents periods from the Geometric era to the Roman imperial period. Core groups are ancient vases, coins, models of ancient sites and numerous casts. Supplements come from various collection holdings, including Greek and Egyptian pieces as well as deposited private collections. Significant individual objects include the "Münster-Mumie", on display since 2021, together with an elaborately decorated ancient Egyptian wooden coffin; mummy and coffin came to Münster from a Gymnasium in 1978, however they differ in dating and original attribution and were restored in 2016.

In recent years the museum has significantly expanded its provenance research in order to close gaps in provenance and, where appropriate, to carry out restitutions. This led to the restitution of several important objects that attracted international attention. Examples are the return of a marble head to the Archäologische Museum von Fondi (restitution date: 19 June 2019), the handover of an Attic black-figure skyphos associated with the name of the Olympic champion Spyros Louis (handover to Greece: 13 November 2019; now in Olympia), as well as the return of a marble head to a museum in Thessaloniki (19 November 2019). Another restituted fragment came from a column capital of the Leonidaion in Olympia and was returned following tips from the public.