Oberammergau Museum

Carving art between tradition and modernity

It is a special moment when you enter the Oberammergau Museum from Dorfstrasse through the heavy green door. And thus into a world of questions and answers.

Did you know that a large number of church altars in the USA come from Oberammergau? That Rudolf Wachter, whose modern sculptures often confuse and provoke, studied at the carving school in Oberammergau, among others? Amazing, right?

The somewhat outdated term “local history museum” can be filled with completely new life here. In addition to the world-famous Passion Theater, the “new-old” museum should be high on the visitor agenda.

Old because it was opened in 1910 - with the focus on putting the art of carving in the right light, including of course the famous historic Oberammergau church nativity scene. New because the exhibits have now been given an excellent setting by museum director Constanze Werner.

She created a museum within a museum and deliberately presented the exhibits in the same way they did in 1910: packed in display cases Jumping jacks, Animal figures, Toys, the movable fortress of Scharnitz and exceedingly filigree fine carvings. It's worth taking a look, for example, taking a close look at the “Jagd am Kofel”. The work is perhaps 50 cm high and yet impressively populated with courageous hunters and agile chamois. Carving art doesn't always just mean Madonnas, carving art is social history!

This forms an exciting contrast 20th Century Department. She relies on a few but expressive exhibits, on Media use with Slideshows and the Computer terminal, where the guest becomes a researcher in the art of carving.

The attic offers a beautiful setting for Special exhibitions and they are oriented entirely in the spirit of the integrative concept of old and new, near and far, sometimes global and sometimes folklore. This museum treats art carefully and teaches you to see old things in a new way.

Note for KönigsCard holders:
1 x daily free entry to the museum including exhibitions (+ Passion Theater + Pilatus House)

Accessibility information:

A ramp and an elevator make access easier at the Oberammergau Museum. Due to the structural conditions, freedom of movement for wheelchair users is restricted. There is a disabled toilet on site.