Maritime Museum (Düsseldorf)
The Schifffahrtsmuseum in Düsseldorf (own name SchifffahrtMuseum) is one of the oldest inland shipping museums in Germany and is now in the castle tower on the banks of the Rhine. The operator is the friends and sponsors of the SchifffahrtMuseum im Schlossturm eV Düsseldorf.
Among other things, there are exhibits on the ecology of the Rhine , shipbuilding history , trade and travel on the river, as well as other aspects. There will also be a multimedia show and historical images, films and archive material. The exhibition rooms are located from the old vaulted cellar to the upper floor. On the observation floor there is a café with a view of the old town , the river and today's shipping.
History of the castle tower and the museum
In 1288 Düsseldorf was elevated to the status of a city and a simple castle was built. At that time it was still outside the small town on the Düssel . The few houses clustered around St. Lambertus Church . A document mentions this castle on the banks of the Rhine in Düsseldorf for the first time in 1386. The facility was continuously expanded, but no images are available from this time. In the 16th century, the dukes of Jülich-Kleve-Berg chose Düsseldorf as their main residence. After extensions and renovations, the castle presented itself around 1550 as a three-wing complex with a closed inner courtyard. The north-eastern, round castle tower on the city side had its topping-out ceremony in 1551. In the lower exhibition vaults, you can see the basic masonry with a thickness of 3.60 m, which was built with interspersed lava stones from the Middle Rhine. The walls taper upwards.
At the time of the rulers of the Palatinate-Neuburg family in the 17th and 18th centuries, the interior of the palace was renewed in the baroque style and a gallery building was built in the palace garden on the Rhine. After 1716 the sovereigns no longer resided in Düsseldorf, but the castle was rebuilt again around 1750. In 1794 French troops shot at and destroyed large parts of the residence in the middle of the city. The ruins were only rebuilt in Prussian times. After a fire in 1872, the castle stood for a long time as a "gruesome ruin" on the banks of the Rhine and was demolished at the end of the century. Only the round tower survived all disasters and should remain in place according to the royal decision.
The tower burned down for the last time in 1943 after an air raid. The people of Düsseldorf had already committed themselves to their landmark before the war, and now they continue to ensure that it is preserved. Companies and private individuals donated over DM 2 million for its restoration and for the opening of the SchifffahrtMuseum in 1984. This special collection for navigation on the Rhine was founded in 1930. It grew quickly with the help of donations and was issued a few years later. With the Second World War, the collection disappeared for security in the magazines. The museum and the building are only open permanently after the castle tower has been restored and refurbished.
literature
- Annette Fimpeler-Philippen, Andrea Bartsch: SchifffahrtMuseum im Schlossturm. A companion through the exhibition , Düsseldorf o. J.
- Annette Fimpeler-Philippen, Sonja Schürmann: The castle in Düsseldorf , Düsseldorf 1999
- Annette Fimpeler: The Düsseldorf Castle Tower , Düsseldorf 2009
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 13 ′ 39 ″ N , 6 ° 46 ′ 16 ″ E