Steinzeitmuseum Kleinheppach

Description

In the Rems-Murr district in Kleinheppach, the Stone Age Museum Korb-Kleinheppach plays an important role as a repository and exhibition venue for Stone Age finds. The museum is housed in the community center of the village of Korb-Kleinheppach; its holdings are among the most significant private collections of this kind in Baden-Württemberg.

The permanent exhibition occupies a space of about 280 m² and leads, in chronological sequence, through prehistory and early history with a focus on the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic. The starting point is a regional overview of geology with fossils and typical minerals. Emphasized is an early-discovered handaxe, presented as evidence for a Neanderthal settlement of the foreland of the Rems valley in the Middle Palaeolithic around 50,000 years ago. The presentation is complemented by Ice Age animal bones, including an important piece of a mammoth tusk, and by a large yurt made of horsehide, at the center of which a station on Stone Age fire-making techniques is integrated.

The collection comprises mainly arrowheads, scrapers, blades, axes and vessels from the vicinity of the find spots; explanatory, richly illustrated panels link these local finds with broader research findings and major sites in Europe. Replicas of famous objects from other regions complete the display. The tour ends with finds from the Metal Ages, the Roman period and the early medieval era.

The life’s work of local historian Eugen Reinhard (18 April 1900–9 December 1991) and his collection are documented in a dedicated section, including photographs, correspondence and a short history of the museum. Drawings of Ice Age animals by members of his family are displayed in some showcases. Rotating displays and special exhibitions also present evidence of local history and objects of folk culture and traditional crafts; parts of historic oak beams from a medieval tree press (circa 1344), archaeologically recovered in 2021, are likewise integrated into the museum.

The collection grew out of long-term research begun in 1928 and, with around 6,000 objects, formed the basis for the opening of a local history museum in 1974 in the former town hall. After a move to the new community center the museum was made accessible to the public again in 2021; today it is run by a local support association.