The 17 “Family Museums Allgäu” design their exhibitions to be particularly family-friendly. The network includes city, art, open-air and specialist museums such as the Hutmuseum Lindenberg (a hat museum), whose director we met
Family museums Allgäu
Angelika Schreiber strolls through the spacious rooms of the Hutmuseum Lindenberg (a hat museum) with a “Matelot” (Breton cap) on her head. The hat is made of straw and resembles a cut-off top hat. “In Lindenberg, this hat was produced by the millions and even exported to all of Europe and the USA,” explains the museum director.
Hutmuseum Lindenberg in Bavaria’s Allgäu region is located in a former hat factory. Matelots were made there many years ago, including for the sailors of Kaiser Wilhelm II. “We still have an original copy from that time.”
Hats tell stories
The museum director has been passionate about hats for many years. For them, it is not just an everyday object. Schreiber can tell whether the wearer is rich or poor just by looking at the headgear. She knows whether it is a woman or a man and at what time the person lived. “I preserve this knowledge and like to pass it on,” says Schreiber, who owns about 25 hats herself.
In this hat museum, guests learn everything about the 300-year-old hat history of Lindenberg in the Allgäu. The small village, which at the time had no prospects for the future, became the German epicentre of hat production. Guests will also learn how hats are made. At various stations, visitors both young and old can create their own hats, weave braids or comb felt hats.
Guests can also feel different materials, including rabbit fur, beaver fur and even a hat made of ocelot fur. “We still see it from a time when these predators were not protected species,” explains the museum director.
Hutmuseum Lindenberg presents “The Shark”
One very special exhibit is the shark skin. In the past, milliners used it to comb very high-quality felt hats. The scaly structure does not leave a pattern in the felt, like a brush, for example. At one of Angelika Schreiber’s favourite stations, museum guests get to try on over 70 different hats.
They slip into the roles of pilots, “grandes dames” or even Vikings. “There’s always a lot of giggling in this corner,” Schreiber smiles. A photo box captures the funniest moments.
Scavenger Hunt via WhatsApp
Since the beginning of 2020, there has been a very special guided tour of the Hutmuseum Lindenberg – via WhatsApp. The participants save the museum’s number in their contacts. Then they are sent clues, questions, photos and puzzles for a scavenger hunt through the museum. “When all is said and done, the participants have seen the highlights, had an enjoyable visit to the museum and learned something,” explains Schreiber. The tour lasts between 25 and 45 minutes.
Allgäu museums for the whole family
The Hutmuseum Lindenberg is part of the “Allgäu Museums for Families” network. “Our goal is for children and young people to experience museums as a place of beauty,” says Schreiber. The head of this hat museum very much appreciates working with her colleagues. The process of mutual exchange helps to generate great new ideas for exciting exhibition concepts and interactive guided tours.
More information about the Hutmuseum Lindenberg Hutmuseum (only in German)
... by Angelika Schreiber
Huttag in Lindenberg
In Lindenberg, there is “Hat Day” every year at the beginning of May. This is a great festival where many thousands of people come to us, each wearing a hat. There is a hat market there where the hat queen is crowned every two years. In the other years, Lindenberg crowns the most charming hat wearers – both men and women – from the audience. The whole town celebrates with music, delicious food and great drinks.
Huttag Lindenberg (only in German)
Altstadt Wangen
I also recommend the medieval old town of Wangen. What I like best are the many fountains it has on display. My favourite fountain is the so-called “Spuck-Brunnen” or “Spit fountain”. As the name promises, it spits at anyone who gets too close.
Wangen (only in German)
Pfarrkirche in Lindenberg
Lindenberg has a relatively new, baroque town parish church. As a result of the economic boom, the city built “St. Peter and Paul” about 100 years ago. The church is gigantic, the nave alone measures 60 metres. There is a statue of Jesus on the pulpit. It shows him as a sower with a typical Allgäu straw hat. Especially the children have a lot of fun when they have to look for the straw hat in the church.
Lindenberg (only in German)
Waldsee in Lindenberg
One of my favourite places is Lake Waldsee in Lindenberg. It is the highest moorland lake in Germany. There is a free lakeside pool there complete with baby pool, playgrounds, a pirate ship and a beach volleyball court. The lake is wonderfully enveloped by stunning forest. A great place to relax. There is also a beautiful lookout tower on the Nadenberg. The view stretches as far as Baden-Württemberg and Austria. In former times, when Germany was still divided, Berlin’s traditional holiday village was located there. Children from Berlin were allowed to spend their holidays at the so-called “place in the sun”.
Waldsee (only in German)
More museums for families in the Allgäu
- Deutsches Hutmuseum Lindenberg
300 years of hat history(s) to put on and try out. We’ll get the whole family together under one roof!
Hutmuseum (only in German)
- Museen der Stadt Wangen
From the rushing mill wheel, to the city wall, to the vault of the medieval bathhouse, the trail leads visitors along 6 museums with exciting themes to discover as they go.
Museums in Wangen (only in German)
- Städtische Museen Isny
Whether tower or castle, there is something going on in the museums of Isny: encounters with the town’s exciting history are guaranteed!
Museums in Isny (only in German)
- Stadtmuseum Lindau
We’re rebuilding for you! Until the opening of the new museum in Cavazzen: Off to the “Kunsthalle am Inselbahnhof” for a rendezvous with Chagall, Manet & Co.
Stadtmuseum Lindau (only in German)
- Allgäuer Bergbauernmuseum Immenstadt-Diepolz
Allgäu Museum of Mountain Farming. Experience a museum in a different way. Participate, gain a deeper insight...!
Bergbauernmuseum
- Museum Hofmühle (Immenstadt)
Go on a voyage of discovery in an old mill building: the “Hofmühle” Museum in Immenstadt tells you stories of the past, of knights, maids, craftsmen, inventors and factory workers!
Museum Hofmühle (only in German)
- Kempten-Museum
Go on a discovery tour with the “Zumsteinmaus” family in the “Zumsteinhaus”. Have fun with the active trail, the interactive bell station or the largest city model in Bavaria!
Kempten-Museum (only in German)
- Archäologischer Park Cambodunum
Experience antiquity first-hand in the Roman city of Cambodunum!
Cambodunum (only in German)
- Stadtmuseum Kaufbeuren
Experience history! Join us and go with Franz Xaver Pöppel on a search for clues through Kaufbeuren’s town history!
Stadtmuseum Kaufbeuren
- Isergebirgs-Museum Neugablonz
Sparkle and glitter, VW Beetles and Swarovski: in the “Isergebirgs-Museum Neugablonz” – you’ll be sure to find many fascinating stories from the jewellery town of Neugablonz.
Isergebirgs-Museum (only in German)
- Südsee-Sammlung & Historisches Museum Obergünzburg
In the “South Seas Collection” and Obergünzburg’s Historical Museum, you can go on a voyage of discovery in foreign worlds and past times. Experience local culture, the story of an Allgäu seafarer and everyday life on a Pacific island.
Südsee-Sammlung (only in German)
- Museum der Stadt Füssen im Barockkloster St. Mang
Visit the former monastery of St. Mang with its thousand-year history. See how the monks used to live here. Magnus, the first monk in Füssen, is even said to have defeated a dragon. With a great search & find game to boot!
Museum Füssen (only in German)
- Galerie im Hohen Schloss
High above the town of Füssen lies an entirely preserved castle from the Middle Ages. Here, you can climb the battlements and towers and look far across the country. With a great search & find game to boot!
Staatsgalerie im Hohen Schloss (only in German)
- Stadtmuseum Memmingen
Time travel for the whole family: at the Memmingen City Museum.
Stadtmuseum (only in German)
- Strigel- und Antoniter Museum Memmingen
Medieval stories abound in the Antonierhaus in Memmingen, and come to life in the “Strigel und Antoniter Museum”.
Strigel- und Antoniter Museum (only in German)
- MEWO Kunsthalle Memmingen
The “MEWO Kunsthalle” is a treasure trove of contemporary art, with exciting programmes for the whole family.
MEWO Kunsthalle (only in German)
