Little tour of the Rhineland-Pfalz open-air museum

The concept of the open-air museum aims not so much to present the visitor with a multitude of objects worth seeing, but rather to make it possible to experience the many individual parts in their natural surroundings and in their grown context. The tour thus becomes a ramble through the villages and landscapes of the Rhineland-Pfalz of past centuries. Since the open-air museum is housed in an area of 35 hectares with forest, meadows, fields, hills and a valley bottom with a stream, the tour offers a varied hike from village to village. One climbs through a vineyard, passes old road crosses, meets a small chapel on the side of the road and sees one of those water mills that one otherwise only knows from old pictures. Of course, there are also garden taverns where you can eat "on the way". Once a year, always on the last Sunday in September, the museum festival takes place. Then bakers, shoemakers, blacksmiths, broom makers and potters come together in the museum villages and demonstrate the skills that were required in the everyday lives of earlier generations. In this way, visitors gain an insight into past handicraft techniques and into the cultivation and livestock breeding methods that were common in the past. The complex can be visited all year round, but the houses are only open from 1 April to 31 October. During this period there are also guided tours with special family rates. During the winter months the site is open to the general public without admission fee.