The ''Rheinische Landesmuseum Trier'' is an

archaeological museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological Types Many archaeology museum are in the open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum. Others display artifacts inside buildings, such as Na ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

, Germany. The collection stretches from prehistory through the Roman period, the Middle Ages to the Baroque era with a strong emphasis on the Roman past of

Augusta Treverorum Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate, whose history dates to the Roman Empire, is often claimed to be the oldest city in Germany. Traditionally it was known in English by its French name of Treves. Prehistory The first traces of human settlement in ...

, Germany's oldest city. Its collections of (local)

Roman sculpture The study of Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere and Barberini Faun, are known only from Roman Imperial or Hellenistic "copies". At ...

Roman mosaic A Roman mosaic is a mosaic made during the Roman period, throughout the Roman Republic and later Empire. Mosaics were used in a variety of private and public buildings, on both floors and walls, though they competed with cheaper frescos for the ...

s and

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s are among the best in Germany (along with those of the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, the

Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn The Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn, or LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn, is a museum in Bonn, Germany, run by the Rhineland Landscape Association. It is one of the oldest museums in the country. In 2003 it completed an extensive renovation. The museum has a n ...

and the

Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum The Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (RGZM), Leibniz Research Institute for Archaeology, is headquartered in Mainz. It is supported by the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany and its States of Germany, states and is a member of the Gottfried W ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

History

2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Freskensaal 1

The museum was founded in 1877 as the Provincial Museum of the Prussian Rhine Province (''Provinzialmuseum der preußischen Rheinprovinz''), of which the

was also part. The first director was the archaeologist Felix Hettner (1877–1902). In 1885–89 a proper museum building was built at the edge of the palace garden of the Electoral Palace, just outside the Roman wall. The architect of the building, rectangular and of red sandstone, was Clemens Guinbert, ''Landbaurat'' from

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. Guinbert also built the museum in Bonn. In 1904 the building was enlarged with three wings after a design by Carl Hocheder from

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. In 1925–26 Hocheder's south wing was replaced by a new office wing. In 1945 around 80% of the building was destroyed by bombs. The rebuilding campaign was led by Zahn and was finished in 1958. It left the museum architecturally as a 'watered-down' version of the original designs. In the 1980s a new section was added by the architects Klaus Gauger and Gerhard Dürr from

Neustadt an der Weinstraße Neustadt an der Weinstraße (, formerly known as ; lb, Neustadt op der Wäistrooss ; pfl, Naischdadt) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants , it is the largest town called ''Neustadt''. Geography Location T ...

. Since 2008 the museum has been managed by the department of Cultural Heritage of the ''Bundesland''

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

(''Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz''). From the inception of the museum in 1877, it has been active in the field of

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

s and research. Many of the artifacts in the museum's collection have been excavated by the museum. The radius of its scientific research is the city of Trier and its wider environs, which includes over 10,000 archaeological sites that are already known to exist. The museum publishes two scientific magazines. Since 2006, the Dr. Heinz Cüpper Award is presented, named after a former director.

Collection

The collection consists of artifacts from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

up to the end of the ''

Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for "ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...

'', a period of around 200.000 years.Die Dauerausstellung
on website ''landesmuseum-trier.de''. Often, the temporary exhibitions will draw on the museum's forte: the Roman era.Review: Past exhibitions
on website ''landesmuseum-trier.de''. A multimedia presentation, "In the Realm of Shadows" (''Im Reich der Schatten''), takes place in the department of Roman archaeology twice a day. The show attempts to bring back to life the 'dead' objects in the collection, for instance by projecting the original

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

onto the sculptures.

Prehistory

In this section some of the oldest tools made by humans in the area can be seen. A highlight is the

Trassem Trassem is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after ...

gold hoard of around 1600 BC. Many archaeological finds date from the

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic era, including weapons and jewellery. A scale model explains the complicated structure of a Celtic defence wall (''

Murus Gallicus ''Murus gallicus'' or Gallic wall is a method of construction of defensive walls used to protect Iron Age hillforts and ''oppida'' of the La Tene period in Western Europe. Basic features The distinctive features are: * earth or rubble f ...

''). File:Hortfund Bronzezeit.JPG, Gold hoard from Trassem File:Trier1084.jpg, Drinking horn decoration File:Trier1070.jpg, Brooch from Weiskirchen File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Keltischer Wehrmauer.jpg, Murus Gallicus model

Roman sculptures

Roman sculpture takes a prominent place in the collection. A polychromed copy of the 30-meter tall

Igel Column The Igel Column (German: ''Igeler Säule'') is a multi-storeyed Roman sandstone column in the municipality of Igel, Trier, Germany, dated to . The column is the burial monument of the Secundinii cloth merchant family, and was built by two of the fa ...

(''Igeler Säule'') from a nearby village fills the museum's courtyard. One of the larger rooms is entirely dedicated to a collection of sculpted grave monuments from

Neumagen-Dhron Neumagen-Dhron is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a state-recognized tourism communit ...

(''Noviomagus Treverorum''), a Roman army base on the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

, a couple of miles downstream of Trier. Among the imposing grave towers it is easy to overlook the "Neumagen Wine Ship", probably a funeral monument of a wine merchant. Many statues and reliefs originate from the city of Trier, for instance from the Imperial Baths, the

Barbara Baths The Barbara Baths (German: Barbarathermen) are a large Roman bath complex in ''Augusta Treverorum'', modern-day Trier, Germany. Stretching over 42,000 square meters, it is the largest Roman bath north of the Alps. Along with other sites in Trier ...

, or the Altbachthal tempel complex. File:Igel2.jpg, Igel Column (replica) File:Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Germany (29621498551).jpg, Grave tower from Neumagen File:Funerary stone monument found in Neumagen in the shape of a rowing ship for transport of wine barrels on the Moselle river, about 220 AD, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Germany (29411833330).jpg, Neumagen Wine Ship File:2018 Trier, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Altbachtaler Mars.jpg, Altbachthal Mars

Roman frescos and mosaics

The museum owns several reconstructed

s, either from town houses or public buildings in

, or from ''

villae rusticae Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...

'' in the vicinity. The

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

s collection is considered the most extensive north of the Alps. One of the largest is the Monnus Mosaic from the 3rd century, with symbols of the months of the year. The Polydus mosaic from a Trier town house contains a depiction of a

quadriga A () is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in Classical Antiquity and the Roman Empire until the Late Middle Ages. The word derives from the Latin contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. The four- ...

with, above it, the name Polydus. File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Freskensaal 2.jpg, Trier fresco (reconstructed) File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Mosaike & Fresko.jpg, Monnus Mosaic and fresco File:Monnus Mosaic, square panel detail with personification of the month of October (Bacchus with thyrsus and wreath), from a Roman Domus in Augusta Treverorum (Trier) (29924872902).jpg, Monnus Mosaic (detail) File:Polydus.jpg, Polydus Mosaic

Roman Trier (scale models, utensils, etc.)

The staggering number of Roman finds from Augusta Treverorum is an indication of the town's importance during this era. For a while Trier was the northern capital of the Empire. A large

scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...

rightfully takes up a central place in the exhibition dedicated to Roman Trier. There are also scale models of individual buildings, some of which still exist. The museum has a fine collection of

Roman glass Roman glass objects have been recovered across the Roman empire, Roman Empire in domestic, industrial and funerary contexts. Glass was used primarily for the production of vessels, although mosaic tiles and window glass were also produced. Roman g ...

. A

cage cup A cage cup, also ''vas diatretum'', plural ''diatreta'', or "reticulated cup" is a type of luxury late Roman glass vessel, found from roughly the 4th century, and "the pinnacle of Roman achievements in glass-making". ''Diatreta'' consist of a ...

from

Piesport Piesport is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location The municipality lies sur ...

, found in a grave in Trier, underlines the craftsmanship. The importance of Roman Trier became once more apparent in 1993 when a hoard of thousands of coins was found in the city centre, the largest Roman gold hoard ever found (with 2650

aurei The ''aureus'' ( ''aurei'', 'golden', used as a noun) was a gold coin of ancient Rome originally valued at 25 pure silver ''denarii'' (sin. denarius). The ''aureus'' was regularly issued from the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th cent ...

weighing ca. 18,5 kg). The treasure is kept in a separate coin cabinet, containing one of Germany's largest numismatic collections. File:2018 Trier, scale model Roman city - circus & amphitheatre.jpg, Scale model of Trier File:2018 Trier, scale model Basilica of Constantine 2.jpg, Basilica of Constantine File:Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Germany (31312760795).jpg, Roman cage cup File:Trierer Goldmuenzenschatz.jpg, Trier gold hoard

Early Middle Ages

After the Romans departed, Trier remained an important (Christian) centre in the

Frankish Empire Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

, largely due to the continuous presence of the bishops. Proof to this are two gilded disc ''

fibulae The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

'' and other

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

from the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

and

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

era. Some architectural fragments date from the same period. Small but noteworthy is the collection Early Christian

gravestone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

s from the 5th, 6th and 7th century. File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Goldscheibenfiebel aus Pelm.jpg, Frankish fibula File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, karolingisches Pilasterkapitell.jpg, Carolingian capital File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, frühchristlicher Grabstein 1.jpg, Early Christian gravestone File:Grabstein Hlodericus.jpg, Grafstone of Hlodericus

High and Late Middle Ages

At the end of the 10th century Trier was a centre of the

Ottonian Renaissance The Ottonian Renaissance was a renaissance of Byzantine and Late Antique art in Central and Southern Europe that accompanied the reigns of the first three Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (or Saxon) dynasty: Otto I (936–973), Otto II (97 ...

. The main products of the so-called

Egbert Egbert is a name that derives from old Germanic words meaning "bright edge", such as that of a blade. Anglo-Saxon variant spellings include Ecgberht () and Ecgbert. German variant spellings include Ekbert and Ecbert. People with the first name Mid ...

workshops are now in the Treasury of

Trier Cathedral The High Cathedral of Saint Peter in Trier (german: Hohe Domkirche St. Peter zu Trier), or Trier Cathedral (german: Trierer Dom), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest church in Germany and the lar ...

and in museums elsewhere in Germany. The Rheinisches Landesmuseum has some stone sculptures from this period but they do not attain to the same level as the metalwork and

manuscript illumination An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

from the Egbert workshops. A forte in the collection however is

Romanesque sculpture Romanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 12th century, or later depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period. The term was invented by 19th-century ...

of the 11th and 12th century. Many capitals and reliefs originate from demolished monasteries and churches in Trier, as from the once important Abbeys of St. Matthias, St. Paulin and St. Maximin. The museum possesses several statues of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and various saints from the Late Gothic period, as well as some stained-glass windows from Trier Cathedral. File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, romanische Bauskulpturen 02.jpg, Fragments from St. Maximin's File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, romanisches Kapitell 6.jpg, Romanesque capital File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, romanische Bauskulpturen 06.jpg, Christ as Α and Ω File:2018 Trier, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Pietà.jpg, Late Gothic Pietà

Modern era

A scale model of

Porta Nigra The Porta Nigra (Latin for ''black gate'') is a large Roman city gate in Trier, Germany. It is today the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. It was designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in ...

/ St. Simeon's as it appeared around 1800, clarifies how some Roman monuments in Trier survived as churches. A magnificent

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...

is a reconstruction of the funeral monument that Christoph von Rheineck had erected in the Liebfrauenkirche in 1535. It is the earliest Renaissance monument in Germany. The original sculptures are kept in the Museum am Dom. A much more humble 17th or 18th-century relief of the three first bishops of Trier from the former abbey of St. Matthias is accompanied by a pious poem in Latin and German. Other objects from this period testify of the wealth at the Trier episcopal and electoral court. File:2018 Trier, scale model Porta Nigra-Simeonstift 2.jpg, Scale model St. Simeon's File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Triumphbogen-Altar (Rekonstruktion) 2.jpg, Renaissance triumphal arch File:2018 Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Relief Bischöfe St Matthias.jpg, Relief Trier bishops File:2018 Trier, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Baroque woodcarving.jpg, Electoral coat of arms

References

{{Authority control Museums in Trier Archaeological museums in Germany History museums in Germany Museums of ancient Rome in Germany Museums established in 1877 1877 establishments in Germany