Rhineland Federal State Museum (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier)

A lot has happened since then – but a lot has also stayed the same. The ‘road of tombs’ (Gräberstrasse) remains one of the museum’s highlights, and has now been joined by some 4500 other objects which today make up the permanent exhibition, as well as several thousand more in storage. Because the Rheinisches Landesmuseum is also responsible for archaeology in general in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and thus looks after an area of 5700 sq km, with more than 10,000 known archaeological sites. So be sure not to miss any of the regular special exhibitions, in which objects from the storage facility are featured in display cabinets.

The exhibits in the permanent exhibition range from the Stone Age to the baroque. It’s not always easy keep track of everything when there’s so much to take in – but you don’t necessarily have to. Just set aside a few hours and see where it takes you. What you definitely shouldn’t miss is the Neumagen Wine Ship (Neumagener Weinschiff) – the largest collection of mosaics north of the Alps, and the largest treasure trove of gold coins from Roman imperial times, weighing a total of 18.5 kg. Also well worth a detour are the ‘Trierer Spruchbecher’ wine cups, (a top export in the Late Antiquity), a model of Trier city in the 4th century (scale 1:6000), the wooden ‘foundation plaque’ to which we owe the title of ‘Germany’s oldest city’, and the detailed model of the Porta Nigra as a church.

A must for: Archaeology and antiquity enthusiasts. Admirers of luxury. Wine-drinkers. Puzzlers. Celts, Romans and Franks. Model-builders and coin-collectors.

Wow factor: 70%
Excavation: 80%
Uniqueness: 80%


PSSSST! THE INSIDER TIP:
Anyone who thinks the Antiquity was essentially all grey stone and no colour will soon change their mind after visiting the ‘In the Realm of Shadows’ spatial media theatre. As viewers travel into the netherworld with the melancholy Albinius Asper to look for his wife, who died young, the lights in the tomb room are completely dimmed, and the original colours are restored to the tombs via projections. It’s an impressive experience, featuring the voice of Christoph Maria Herbst. A public performance is held twice a day.