Thorpe Heimatmuseum

Description

The Thorpe Heimatmuseum is located in Eppendorf in the Bochum city district of Wattenscheid on Engelsburger Straße; it presents regional history and is run by the Eppendorfer Heimatverein. The name Thorpe goes back to the former place name Abbingthorpe; "Thorpe" means village. The farmstead and the museum barn serve as event venues in addition to the permanent exhibition.

The Eppendorfer Heimatverein was founded in 1988. In the following years, association members moved original half-timbered buildings to a new site in Eppendorf and reconstructed them there. Much of the construction work was carried out by the members themselves. The foundation stone of the farmers' barn is dated 6 June 1998; the topping-out ceremony for this construction phase was celebrated on 24 October 1998. The topping-out ceremony for the second construction phase took place on 12 July 2002.

The museum primarily displays agricultural implements. In the reconstructed buildings, typical living and working rooms of former farmsteads are on display, including bedrooms, a sewing and ironing room, a farm kitchen, and maids' and farmhands' quarters. The attic of the barn houses a nesting site for barn owls.