Kreismuseum Jerichower Land

The Kreismuseum Jerichower Land is a local history museum in Genthin. It sits in a Jugendstil villa built in 1886 and moved to its present site in 1928. The building has thirteen rooms showing the region’s past between the Elbe, Havel and Fläming hills. A large prehistoric collection and a permanent display from the Middle Ages to the 20th century fill most of the space. Two further rooms host changing special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum’s prize is its prehistoric collection of about 8,000 items. It centres on finds gathered by Dr Richard Stimming, a doctor from Wusterwitz, in 1929. Many pieces come from sites like Gallberg near Hohenferchesar and Butzow in Beetzseeheide. Among the exhibits are Mesolithic tools of bone and antler and grave goods such as brooches. A separate room on the first floor keeps these objects together. Outside, under its own shelter, stands the Rogäsen runestone. It was unearthed after a school fire in the mid-19th century but its inscription has never been decoded. The museum has housed the stone since 1928. Inside, visitors walk through rooms that trace the area’s medieval and modern history. The villa’s light-filled halls and the orderly displays make the past easy to follow.