Museum Kellinghusen

The Museum Kellinghusen sits in the old town hall of the small town of Kellinghusen in Schleswig-Holstein. Founded in 1953, it now houses two unusual collections under the name Betont – Ton und Tasten Museum. One explores the town’s long ceramic tradition, the other displays historic keyboard instruments from the 17th to 19th centuries. The ceramic display centres on Kellinghusen faience from 1764 to 1860. Famous for plates with bright yellow rims and vivid central bouquets, the town once had six workshops making these wares. The exhibition explains how they were made, used and sold, and shows how production shifted from handwork to factory methods at the Fernsicht Thonwaarenfabrik. The keyboard gallery presents instruments from the Eric Feller Collection, including harpsichords, clavichords, square pianos and early tangent pianos, all brought to life with audio and video stations. Visitors walk through rooms that combine the town hall’s historic rooms with modern display cases. The faience pieces stand beside tools and trade records, while the keyboard instruments occupy a quiet gallery where recorded performances can be heard. Outside, the cobbled square and half-timbered houses of Kellinghusen recall the setting in which these crafts once flourished.