Museums & exhibition rooms

Numerous museums, collections and other exhibition rooms display finds from pile dwelling sites - you are sure to find an exhibition close to you. Please note that some institutions have irregular opening hours!
For further activities such as guided tours for adults and school children or experimental demonstrations, please check the relevant website.

France

Haute-Savoie

Musée-Château d'Annecy - Observatoire régional des Lacs Alpins (ORLA)

The Musée-Château d'Annecy carries an important collection found in pile dwellings during the inspections and archaeological surveys from the 19th to the 21st century. In the centre of the exhibition are Lake Annecy, Lake Bourget and Lake Geneva, as well as important discovery sites like Robenhausen on Lake Pfäffikon. The permanent exhibition in two rooms shows the environment in the New Stone Age and Copper Age, as well as everyday objects and the oven of Crêt de Châtillon in Sevrier (Haute-Savoie).


to the website of the museum

Musée-Château d'Annecy - Observatoire régional des Lacs Alpins (ORLA)

place du Château
74000 Annecy

opening hours

1st October - 31st Mai
Wed - Mon: 10.00 -12.00 und 14.00 - 17.00
closed on tuesday

1st June - 30th September
Wed - Mon: 10.30 -18.00
closed on tuesday

Closed on 1st january, easter monday, 1st and 8th may, Ascension Day, 1st and 11th november, 24th and 25th december.


Savoie

Maison du Lac d'Aiguebelette

The Maison du Lac displays the whole Lake Aiguebelette in a vibrant and cosy ambience. The show area allows you to dive into a unique and protected sphere where each of the seasons reveal their secrets. In your interactive visit, you will be discovering the uniqueness of our environment and the people that lived in, protected, made history in it and worked on its future.


to the website of the museum

Maison du Lac d'Aiguebelette

Route d'Aiguebelette 572
73470 Nances

opening hours

July - August:
daily 9.00 - 18.00

other months :
daily 9.00 - 12.30 and 14.00 - 17.30


Musée Lac & Nature

The Lac et Nature museum is a didactic facility that introduces the visitors to the fragile balance of the lake. The museum was built step by step by FAPLA (Fédération des Associations de Protection du Lac d'Aiguebelette) and offers the best opportunity to convey the natural, biological and cultural heritage of Lake Aiguebelette.


to the website of the museum

Musée Lac & Nature

Route des plages 996
73470 Novalaise

opening hours

The museum is open between 15 June and 10 September.

June and september
some Wednesday and Saturday afternoons: 14.00 - 17.00

July and august
Wed - Sat: 14.00 - 17.00


Germany

Baden-Württemberg

Archäologisches Landesmuseum, ALM

At the Archäologisches Landesmuseum , 3,000 square metres are dedicated to display diverse aspects of Baden-Württemberg's archaeology. In addition to changing special exhibitions, visitors can look forward to a large permanent exhibition, including one on the "World of the pile dwellers" with sensational objects from the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Lake Constance and Lake Federsee. Organic objects made of wood or plant fibres - textiles, building elements, tools - show the excellent state of conservation in the pile dwelling settlements. The reconstruction of the wall of the unique "cult house" of Ludwigshafen with seven life-size stylised female figures is one of the highlights of the exhibition.

 


to the website of the museum

Archäologisches Landesmuseum, ALM

Benediktinerplatz 5
78467 Konstanz

opening hours

Tue. - Sun. and holidays: 10.00 - 17.00
Mon.: closed
free entrance at every first saturday of the month


Federseemuseum


to the website of the museum

Federseemuseum

August Gröber Platz
88422 Bad Buchau

opening hours

1 April - 1 November
Daily:     10.00 - 18.00

2 November - 31 March
Sunday: 10.00 - 16.00


Museum Biberach


to the website of the museum

Museum Biberach

Museumsstraße 6
88400 Biberach an der Riß

opening hours

Tue - Sun: 10.00 - 18.00
Thu : 10.00 - 20.00


Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen


to the website of the museum

Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen

Strandpromenade 6
88690 Unteruhldingen-Mühlhofen


opening hours

1 April - 3 October
daily 10:00 - 18:00

4 October - 6 November
daily 10:00 - 17:30

7 November - end of November
Sat and Sun: 10:00 - 17:30

December
Mon - Fri: for registered groups on request


Bavaria

Steinzeitdorf Pestenacker

The Stone Age village Pestenacker demonstrates vivid history you can discover and participate in. Modelled after a prehistoric settlement discovered in 1934, the Stone Age village is being extended and further professionalised. A byre-dwelling from the New Stone Age, reconstructed in its original size, is waiting for your visit. In the Stone Age garden, it is time for a discovery tour of cereal crops and herbs. The Stone Age bee houses show how our ancestors were harvesting honey 5500 years ago and regularly baked bread in the Stone Age clay oven. In the visitor's pavilion, you can discover tools, weapons, ceramics and fabrics as in the New Stone Age.


to the website of the museum

Steinzeitdorf Pestenacker

Hauptstr. 100
86947 Weil – Ortsteil Pestenacker

opening hours

Mon: 15:00 - 19:00
Wed:  10:00 - 14:00
Fri - Sun:  13:00 - 17:00

1st november - 31st march closed


Archäologische Staatssammlung München

The State Archaeological Collection, founded in 1885, is the archaeological museum of the Free State of Bavaria. In addition to many other central objects from 100,000 years of human history, finds from the three World Heritage Sites of Rose Island, Pestenacker and Unfriedshausen are kept and exhibited here.


to the website of the museum

Archäologische Staatssammlung München

Lerchenfeldstr. 2
80538 München

opening hours

Still closed until 2023/2024


Italy

Lombardy

Museo Civico Archeologico „G. Rambotti“

The Museum, inaugurated in 1990, is named after Giovanni Rambotti, the first mayor of Desenzano in 1860. He was the first to recognize the scientific and archaeological value of the prehistoric finds discovered in the area of Lake Garda. The museum was founded to show the wealth of archaeological evidence in the Desenzano area, focusing on the prehistory of Lake Garda and the pile dwellings of Lavagnone. The exhibition have been completed with materials spanning from the Roman age to the Renaissance and up to the domination of the Republic of Venice.


to the website of the museum

Museo Civico Archeologico „G. Rambotti“

via Anelli 42
25015 Desenzano del Garda (BS)

opening hours

2 April  - 1 October
Mon and wed: closed
Tue and Thu: 9.30-13.00
Fri - Sun: 9.30-12.30, 14.30-19.00

2 October - 1 April
Mon - Wed: closed
Thu: 9.30 - 13.00
Fri - Sun: 9.30-12.30, 14.30-19.00

Holidays
The Museum is also open on the following public holidays (if they do not fall on closing days): 25 April, 1 May, 2 June, 15 August. The museum is also open on Easter Monday.
The museum is closed on the following public holidays: 1 November, 8 December, 25- 26 December, 1 January, 6 January, 27 January (patronal feast day)


Museo Archeologico della Valle Sabbia MAVS

The Museum, housed in an ancient building (13th-15th century), offers the visitor a picture of the history of the Sabbia Valley and the western Garda area from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Renaissance period, with a focus on the important Bronze Age pile-dwelling site of Lucone di Polpenazze. Thanks to the particular environmental conditions, many finds in organic material come from the site, such as wooden sickles and linen fabrics.


to the website of the museum

Museo Archeologico della Valle Sabbia MAVS

Piazzetta San Bernardino 5
25085 Gavardo

opening hours

Monday - Friday:  9.00 - 13.00
Sunday:              14.30 - 18.30


Museo Archeologico Platina

The Platina Museum, housed in a 16th century convent, shows to the visitor the archaeological artifacts found in an area rich in history. From the Early Neolithic sites of the Vho di PiadenaCulture, to the great sites of the Bronze Age such as the important pile dwellingLagazzi del Vho. There are also rich collections concerning the Celts, the Roman period with the site of Bedriacum and the Early Middle Ages.


to the website of the museum

Museo Archeologico Platina

Piazza Garibaldi 3
26034 Piadena Drizzona

opening hours

October - May
Tue - Fri:  09.00 - 13.30
Sat:          14.00 - 18.30

June, July and September
Tue - Fri:  09.00 - 13.00
Sat:          14.00 - 18.30

closed on Sunday and Monday


Trentino

Museo delle Palafitte Lago di Ledro

Since its opening in 1972, the Museo delle Palafitte del Lago di Ledro has been collecting and displaying finds discovered during the numerous excavation campaigns that have explored the eastern lake shore since 1929. The finds are part of the remains of a Bronze Age pile-dwelling village (2200–1350 BC). Since summer 2019, the museum, which is part of the MUSE network of science museums and coordinates the Ledro Museum Network, has a completely new appearance. Throughout the year, the museum offers workshops and activities for schools. Palafittando® is the summer programme of performances, concerts and workshops on experimental archaeology that offers visitors a summer of encounters between the past and the present. Through its research and the involvement of local actors, the museum becomes a place of cultural, economic and social development and encounters.


to the website of the museum

Museo delle Palafitte Lago di Ledro

Via al lago 1
38067 Ledro (TN)

opening hours

March - June
daily: 9.00 - 17.00

July and August
daily: 10.00 - 18.00

September - November

daily: 9.00 - 17.00

December
Sat and Sun: 9.00 - 17.00

If you are 50 years old, you get in for free!


Museo delle Palafitte di Fiavé

A fascinating journey through time, diving into the past, into the atmosphere of the pile-dwelling village of Fiavé to experience the life of our Bronze Age ancestors. Between Lake Garda and the Brenta Dolomites, in Fiavé, in the Valli Giudicarie, where once was the ancient Carera Lake, the Archeo Nature Park rises today, in an environment of great value. A path of discovery and knowledge in the evocative scenery of the nature reserve, a few dozen metres from the archaeological area, included by UNESCO in the World Heritage List, where the remains of the posts that supported the prehistoric buildings are still visible. The Archeo Nature Park and the archaeological area, together with the Pile dwelling Museum in the village of Fiavé, form a true archaeological compound, full of surprises for visitors of all ages. All this is an invitation to adventure and exploration of the past along an engaging route with full-scale reconstruction of the prehistoric buildings, installations illustrating life at the time of the pile dwellings, information panels, a visitor centre with films and multimedia equipment, rest areas as well as spaces dedicated to families and children.

Admission fees (fees include admission to the Museo delle Palafitte): adults € 7; reduced fee € 5; free admission under 14 years old, affiliated with Trentino Guest Card


to the website of the museum

Museo delle Palafitte di Fiavé

Loc. Doss-Torbiera
38075 Fiavé (TN)

opening hours

30 March - 16 June Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and public holidays 13 -18
22 June - 31 August daily 10-19
1 - 30 September daily 10-18
1 - 13 October daily 10-17

Special openings on request for schools and groups (minimum 15 people). Info: tel. 0461 492161 - uff.beniarcheologici@provincia.tn.it


Veneto

Museo Nazionale Atestino

The museum carries the most important archaeological finds of the Venetians, who lived in this region during the 1st millennium BC. The Roman section shows the transformation of the city of Ateste between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. Smaller but important parts of the exhibition are dedicated to the prehistory of the Euganean Hills – especially the pile-dwelling site of Laghetto della Costa di Arquà – and the post-antique period.


to the website of the museum

Museo Nazionale Atestino

Via G. Negri 9/c
35042 Este (PD)

opening hours

Closed on Mondays. More information on opening hours on other days of the week is available on the museum's website.
Free admission on the 1st Sunday of the month.


Switzerland

Aargau

Museum Burghalde

The permanent exhibition with big pictures of life, original finds and replicas you can touch presents the history of pile dwellers in the Seetal valley. The exhibition highlight is a 360-degree film where visitors can explore the pile dwelling site under water with an archaeological diver. About 150 school classes enjoy our programmes on the Old and New Stone Age every year. The slogan “Stone Age Experience” invites you to take up work in a prehistoric workshop with replica tools from the pile-dwelling period, try on Stone Age clothing, cook in the museum garden and much more.


to the website of the museum

Museum Burghalde

Schlossgasse 23
5600 Lenzburg

opening hours

Tue - Sat: 14:00 -17:00
Sun        : 11:00 -17:00
Mon closed


Bern

Museum Lüscherz - Sammlung Hans Iseli

The Museum exhibits an impressive collection amassed by Hans Iseli from Lüscherz. Over the course of 60 years he collected more than 10,000 artefacts made of stone, flint, bone, antler and clay, which document the lives of the pile dwellers that lived around Lake Bienne. The exhibition is housed in the basement of the Municipal Building at Haupstrasse 19 and provides an insight into the lives of early farming communities on Lake Bienne between 4000 and 800 BC.


to the website of the museum

Museum Lüscherz - Sammlung Hans Iseli

Hauptstrasse 19
2576 Lüscherz

opening hours

June - October:
1st and 3rd Sun of the month: 14.00 - 17.00
during the opening hours of the municipal administration


Musée d'art et d'histoire de La Neuveville


to the website of the museum

Musée d'art et d'histoire de La Neuveville

Ruelle de l'Hôtel de Ville 11
2520 La Neuveville

opening hours

April – October
Sat and Sun: 14.30 – 17.30
and on demand


Freiburg

Museum Murten

The permanent exhibition of the Museum Murten shows a rich array of finds from various pile-dwelling sites on Lake Morat. Vessels, tools, implements of all kinds, jewellery and textiles provide insight into the Neolithic and Bronze Age living environments. The artefacts on display were recovered mainly from the settlements in Muntelier, which were among the best-known prehistoric sites in Western Switzerland.


to the website of the museum

Museum Murten

Ryf 4 4
3280 Murten

opening hours

Tue – Sat: 14.00 – 17.00
Sun        : 10.00 – 17.00


Geneva

Musée d'art et d'histoire MAH

The Musée d’art et d’histoire de la Ville de Genève houses almost 47,000 prehistoric finds. Several thousand came from pile-dwelling sites around the lower basin of Lake Geneva and date from both the Late Stone Age and the Late Bronze Age. A selection of several dozen artefacts from the sites at Plonjon, Eaux-Vives, Pâquis and Anières-Bassy as well as Collonge-Bellerive and Corsier-Port have been on display in the new regional archaeology hall since 2009. The finds are accompanied by 10th century BC piles from Plonjon and a dugout canoe from Morges, which was recently dated to 1326 BC.


to the website of the museum

Musée d'art et d'histoire MAH

Rue Charles Galland 2 2
1206 Genève

opening hours

Tue - Sun: 11:00 - 18:00
Thu: 12:00 - 21:00
Monday closed


Lucerne

Archäologisches Museum Schötz


to the website of the museum

Archäologisches Museum Schötz

Oberdorfstrasse (neben der St. Mauritiuskapelle) 2
6247 Schötz

opening hours

Every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month: 14:00 - 16:00
free admission


Neuchâtel

Laténium


to the website of the museum

Laténium

Espace Paul Vouga
2068 Hauterive

opening hours

Schaffhausen

Museum zu Allerheiligen

The permanent archaeological exhibition features a settlement model of the bog settlement Thayngen-Weier, which was created on the foundation of the excavation results and scientific investigations. A touch screen on various model topics enables references to settlement features, building history and individual discoveries. At the centre of the presentation of the rich material from the settlement are wooden finds: ladles, bowls and cups in all stages of processing up to the finished product, hatchets, threshing rafters, mashers and various other wooden tools. In connection with new discoveries, clay knobs from the settlement of Weier take on a new significance: women's breasts as applications of clay-covered, painted house walls.


to the website of the museum

Museum zu Allerheiligen

Baumgartenstrasse 6
8200 Schaffhausen

opening hours

Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 17:00
Mon closed


Solothurn

Pächterhaus Museum Blumenstein


to the website of the museum

Pächterhaus Museum Blumenstein

Blumensteinweg 12
4500 Solothurn

opening hours

Tue -Sun:14.00 -17.00
closed on monday


Archäologisches Museum Kanton Solothurn, im Haus der Museen


to the website of the museum

Archäologisches Museum Kanton Solothurn, im Haus der Museen

Konradstrasse 7, 4600 Olten, Schweiz 7
4600 Olten

opening hours

Tue - sun: 10.00 -17.00
closed on monday


St Gall

Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum

The Historical and Ethnological Museum has stood in the city park of St. Gallen for over 100 years. As a platform for history, ethnology and archaeology, it radiates far beyond St. Gallen. The permanent archaeological exhibition "Fascinating Archaeology – Treasures from the soil of St. Gallen" invites visitors on a journey through time to over 50,000 years ago. Displayed objects range from the Palaeolithic Age to the rich medieval heritage of the canton and city of St. Gallen. The UNESCO World Heritage sites in Lake Zurich are given an important place.


to the website of the museum

Historisches und Völkerkundemuseum

Museumstrasse 50
9000 St. Gallen

opening hours

Tue - sun: 10:00 - 17:00


Thurgau

Museum Eschenz

The museum, which is well worth a visit, exhibits archaeological finds and modern everyday objects from Eschenz. The archaeological tour from Eschenz to Stein am Rhein starts at the museum and leads to pile-dwelling sites from the Neolithic and Bronze Age on Werd Island. Several panels also provide information about the Roman settlement and the late antique fort of Tasgentium. The sites are situated in a fantastic landscape by the lake.


to the website of the museum

Museum Eschenz

Unterdorfstrasse 14
8264 Eschenz

opening hours

May to october:
1st sunday of the month 14.00 - 17:00


Historisches Museum im Schloss Arbon

The medieval Arbon Castle is home to the largest museum of local and regional history in the Thurgau region. The permanent exhibition invites visitors on an exciting journey through 5500 years of settlement history on Lake Constance. The many original discoveries, documents, models and photos are in some cases supplemented with comparable objects of our time. Climbing the tower is rewarded with a breath-taking panoramic view.


to the website of the museum

Historisches Museum im Schloss Arbon

Schloss Arbon
9320 Arbon

opening hours

January  - december
Sun: 14:00 - 17:00

15. June - 15. september
Mon - Sun: 14:00 - 17:00


Museum für Archäologie des Kantons Thurgau

The Museum of Archaeology presents the most important archaeological discoveries from Canton Thurgau, including numerous outstandingly preserved objects from pile-dwelling sites, everyday objects from the Celts and Romans, and finds dating back to the Napoleonic War of 1799. The highlights include the Neolithic golden cup, the Roman wooden statue and the oldest completely preserved instrument in Switzerland: a 2000-year-old pan flute.


to the website of the museum

Museum für Archäologie des Kantons Thurgau

Freie Strasse 26
8510 Frauenfeld

opening hours

Tue - Fri:  14:00 – 17:00
Sat - Sun: 13:00 – 17:00
mondays closed


Vaud

Musée Yverdon et region

The prehistoric hall presents an array of finds from the pile-dwellings in north Canton Vaud, covering the entire period from the Late Stone Age (4000 BC) to the end of the Bronze Age (850 BC). The paintings by the Yverdon artist P. Savary of some of the finds being used in everyday situations provide a vivid impression of what life would have been like at the time. Particularly worth mentioning with regard to the Bronze Age finds is a dugout canoe – at 12 m one of the longest in Switzerland – which was found in Corcelettes (VD) in 1880.


to the website of the museum

Musée Yverdon et region

Le Château, CP 968
1401 Yverdon-les-Bains

opening hours

Wed - Sun: 11:00 - 18:00

Open on public holidays, except 25.12. and 01.01.

Free admission on the 1st Sunday of the month


Musée cantonal d’archéologie et d’histoire


to the website of the museum

Musée cantonal d’archéologie et d’histoire

Place de la Riponne 6
1005 Lausanne

opening hours

Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 17:00
mondays closed


Zug

Kantonales Museum für Urgeschichte(n)

The Zug Museum für Urgeschichte(n) presents the history of the pile dwellers in a lively and informative manner. Here, you will see an exhibition that allows you to experience first-hand what people’s everyday lives were like 3000 to 6000 years ago. What did they eat? What craft-working skills and abilities did they have? What kind of clothes and jewellery did they wear? With whom did they trade goods? All these questions are answered by the finds on display.


to the website of the museum

Kantonales Museum für Urgeschichte(n)

Hofstrasse 15
6300 Zug

opening hours

Tue - Sun: 14.00 – 17.00
Exceptions can be found here
Guided tours on request also outside opening hours.


Zurich

Schweizerisches Landesmuseum

The archaeological collection comprises more than 100,000 objects from all Swiss regions. Important ensembles are the pile-dwelling finds from the Seeland Region of Victor Gross's Collection and those from Lake Zurich by Ferdinand Keller. An aesthetic presentation shows the fascinating world of pile-dwelling finds. On display are, for example, a Neolithic door, one of the oldest wheels in Europe and numerous objects made of leather or wood.


to the website of the museum

Schweizerisches Landesmuseum

Museumsstrasse 2
8021 Zürich

opening hours

Tue - Sun : 10:00 -17:00
Thu          : 10:00 -19:00


Ortsmuseum Meilen

Pile-dwelling research began in 1854 with the finds in Meilen. In its permanent exhibition, the Meilen Local Museum shows archaeological discoveries from various lakeside settlements in the municipality. The exhibition covers topics such as construction, nutrition, everyday objects, movement, agriculture, vegetation and wildlife.


to the website of the museum

Ortsmuseum Meilen

Kirchgasse 14, 8706 Meilen 14
8706 Meilen

opening hours

During temporary exhibitions: Sat & Sun from 14.00-17.00.
Guided tours on request also outside opening hours.


Museum am Pfäffikersee

The museum documents housing and trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, home working and industrialisation, but also houses a rich prehistoric collection, including pile-dwelling finds from the northern shore of Lake Pfäffikon.


to the website of the museum

Museum am Pfäffikersee

Stogelenweg 2
8330 Pfäffikon

opening hours

March - October
Sun: 14.00 - 17.00


Ortsmuseum Sust


to the website of the museum

Ortsmuseum Sust

Bahnhofstrasse 27
8810 Horgen

opening hours

The exhibition is currently being refurbished. More information on current events are available here