Activities

The Prince-Bishop’s Christening Gown

Just an unassuming piece of fabric. And yet significant to the town’s history: the christening gown of Clemens Wenzeslaus—who was once an elector, related to three French kings, and entitled to elect the emperor. Straddling the line between feudalism and the Enlightenment. For the last Prince-Bishop of Augsburg, Marktoberdorf was his summer residence. He loved hunting, music, and the theater. Marktoberdorf continues to benefit from his political decisions to this day. Thus, a fragile piece of fabric becomes a significant exhibit. You only see what you know. Keeping memories alive—that’s what a city museum is for!

 

Clemens Wenzeslaus and his “summer retreat” in Marktoberdorf. Without the patronage of the “high lord,” Marktoberdorf would not have achieved its rise to become a county seat. And the “most modern tractor factory in the world” (Fendt) would be unthinkable without good transportation routes.

 

The prince-bishop’s court carpenter, Markus Brenner, was the father of Genovefa Brenner, who later became the mother of composer Carl-Maria von Weber and a great-aunt of Mozart. The fact that Marktoberdorf is a school district, rich in diverse cultural offerings, and that the castle became the Bavarian Music Academy—none of this is a coincidence.

 

The City Museum brings Marktoberdorf’s history to life. Presented in easily digestible doses. Roman life in a villa rustica near Kohlhunden, the forgotten world of the Alemanni: a glimpse into a 6th/7th-century male grave. Tools, ritual vessels, and grave goods are what make history here vivid and “tangible.”

 

Home is, after all, the sum of our memories. And visitors—whether tourists or locals—will find the many mosaic pieces of their own identity across 380 square meters of exhibition space in 18 rooms. From the granting of market rights to the elevation to city status. Stunning displays transform the museum into an immersive experience.

 

Elementary education, water supply, welfare for the poor: time and again—like a common thread—Prince-Bishop Clemens Wenzeslaus: he ensured freedom of trade, protected commerce, and ordered the construction of the Salt Road. The first steps were taken toward the later railway connection. 19th- and 20th-century fashion takes center stage, alongside bourgeois and rural life.

 

The Munich-Lake Constance Way of St. James is brought to life: On the Marktoberdorf-Wald section, just above the Ettwieser Weiher pond, you’ll come across the Kindleskapelle chapel, where mothers have been praying for their children for more than 300 years. Myths, legends, and miracles surround this place of worship—a vivid example of popular piety.   

A highlight of the journey through time at the museum is the legendary “Dieselross F 18,” built in 1949 by the Marktoberdorf-based global company AGCO-Fendt; exhibits from the old tower clock factory and the Thalhofen brick industry are milestones of industrialization.

 

Until well into the 20th century, transmissions were the common means of powering grinders, saws, or hammers. Leather belts running over pulleys trigger astonishing mechanical functions. This is exactly how the famous “Spöttl Nativity Scene” from Fechsen works, which can be admired at the City Museum during the Christmas season. Eighty figures move—as if by magic—in a lovingly staged landscape. At the top, you can see the stable in Bethlehem, with an ox and a donkey, and the exotic procession of the Three Wise Men; hidden beneath the visible action lies a true marvel of rubber bands, cranks, and wheels.

 

Parents and teachers appreciate the museum’s educational approach. “Writing like Clemens Wenzeslaus”—with a quill pen—or “Washing like 100 years ago”—you can really get things rolling. With such entertaining ways of learning, the knowledge really sticks.