Stadtmuseum Bergkamen

Description

The Stadtmuseum Bergkamen in Oberaden is a regional museum of cultural and natural history and was founded in 1965 as a local history museum.

From the outset, the collections were housed in the former administrative building of the municipality of Oberaden. Between 1986 and 1988 this building was converted into a museum and established itself as a cultural focal point in Bergkamen. At the same time a support association was formed to back the museum. In 1990/91 the municipal gallery “sohle 1” moved in and has since regularly presented exhibitions of contemporary art with an emphasis on regional artists. Numerous clubs and volunteer groups, including former miners, artists and historical interpreters, take part in the museum’s work.

The collection encompasses earth history, archaeology, urban history and mining. In the earth history section the importance of hard coal for the region is examined; fossils and rocks from miners’ collections and teaching collections complement the displays and are planned to be presented in a display collection in the future.

The archaeological department ranges from Stone Age and Bronze Age finds to a focus on the Iron Age and Roman presence. The extensive collection on the Roman camp Oberaden tells the Roman history along the Lippe across more than 300 m². In addition there is an archaeological educational trail and the Römerpark Bergkamen with a reconstructed 35-metre timber-and-earth wall as well as other reconstructed structures.

The Early Middle Ages will be given greater weight in the new permanent exhibition. Finds from a necropolis in the Logistikpark A2 — including the burials of a warrior and of a woman with rich grave goods — are typical testimonies of the Merovingian period. Archaeological monuments such as the Bumannsburg and the Königslandwehr are presented in the museum and serve as starting points for excursions.

The city’s history illustrates the decentralisation of today’s urban area, which arose from the former municipalities of Oberaden, Heil, Weddinghofen, Bergkamen, Overberge and Rünthe. Before industrialisation the region was predominantly agricultural; with the sinking of the first shafts in 1890, for example for the Zeche Monopol Schacht Grimberg 1/2, industrialisation began, accompanied by canal construction on the Lippe, rail connection and settlement development. The municipal merger of 1966–1969 created the city of Bergkamen, which, however, did not develop a unified centrality; the expected significant population growth did not materialise. Structural change after the coal crisis remains a central theme.

Mining is presented in the Barbarastollen department for the period from 1950 to 1990 in a partly private display collection. A teaching tunnel was established in the museum courtyard through volunteer efforts, and various large technical machines are exhibited there.