AT A GLANCE
Why go?
On the small Franziskanerplatz in the old quarter of Neuenburg am Rhein, the Museum für Stadtgeschichte tells the improbable story of a town that once flourished as a free imperial city and trading hub on the Rhine—and was then wiped off the map three separate times. Housed in a building erected in 1822 as a schoolhouse and town hall, it is one of the few structures to have outlived the city it chronicles.↗↗
Across some 400 square metres, a thematically and chronologically ordered route traces 850 years of history, from the city's foundation around 1175 by Duke Berthold IV of Zähringen to the destruction of the first German town bombed in World War II. Original archaeological finds, charters, historical maps and paintings stand in for a medieval streetscape that no longer survives above ground. The curators are explicit that this is no ordinary Heimatmuseum, but a monument to a city whose great age leaves almost no trace in its modern face.↗↗
With opening hours limited to two afternoons a week and entry costing just two euros, it is a quick, low-pressure visit that pairs well with a stroll through the old town, the nearby Rhine banks, and the three-country corner setting where Germany, France and Switzerland meet.
