Museum für Antike Schiffahrt Mainz

Description

The Museum für Antike Schifffahrt in Mainz occupies premises of the former Großmarkthalle at Südbahnhof and is dedicated to the research and presentation of late-antique ship remains from the vicinity of the Rhine.

The impetus to establish the institution arose after the 1981/82 excavations, which brought to light well-preserved remains of several ships; these finds are known as the Mainzer Römerschiffe. The museum’s construction and display were completed in 1994, when it opened as a branch of the Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA). Among the discoveries are two distinct types of warships from the late Roman Rhine fleet as well as other boat types.

The exhibition shows the remains of five Roman warships from the 4th century, life-size faithful reconstructions, and the fragment of a cargo barge. The finds are complemented by numerous ship reliefs, stone monuments, scale models, and information panels that provide insights into ancient shipbuilding, construction techniques, and the Roman naval system in the Germanic provinces and across the Empire. The museum includes an adjoining workshop where visitors can observe model making.

In mid-April 2010 the museum closed for extensive renovation and conversion work and, after delays, reopened on 13 December 2011; exhibition spaces were restructured and interpretive concepts revised, and energy-efficiency measures were implemented to reduce costs and better conserve the original finds. In July 2022 the museum was closed again; a reopening is planned for late autumn 2026. After the reinstallation, the exhibition is to address, alongside Roman shipping, the transport systems of antiquity as a whole.