Wixhäuser village museum

The Wixhäuser Dorfmuseum sits in Darmstadt-Wixhausen, housed in a fully restored medieval Franconian timber-framed farmhouse. The building dates from 1662, when craftsmen rebuilt it after the Thirty Years’ War using decorative beams from another house. Its two-storey structure has a solid ground floor and a half-hipped roof covered with curved tiles, while the street front is clad in wooden shingles. Inside, nine rooms display objects that trace the village’s social and cultural past. The exhibits include a saddler’s bench, a cobbler’s stall, a wheelwright’s workshop, a smoke kitchen and a communal bake oven. Visitors also see farming tools, spare-time bricks, household linen, maps, building plans and a collection of early photographs. The museum forms part of the historic rectory complex that has grown over eight and a half centuries. Nearby stands the parish archive, first recorded in 1556, which adds to the site’s layered history. Special exhibitions and guided tours for children are arranged by appointment, linking each display to the everyday life of old Wixhausen.