A Wealth of Objects on Display – Munich Archäologische Staatssammlung

By Owain Williams

Over the weekend, when the clouds were low and the temperature was below zero, I decided to visit the Archäologische Staatssammlung in Munich. In addition to the balmy central heating, I discovered an absolutely stunning museum with a wealth of artefacts on display. I wish I had visited sooner!

The museum, located behind the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, is quite an unassuming building, especially compared to the many other museums in Munich. Yet it holds a wide array of artefacts, laid out in an accessible manner, mostly discovered in Bavaria. The artefacts date from the Stone Age through to the 1940s, but most of them date from the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Roman imperial period, and the Migration Period. As such, there was a wealth of ancient material on display, from Celtic coin hoards to Roman militaria and Germanic brooches and pins. There was even a display of the remains of a Celtic, sixth-century-BC grave of a young woman, filled with amber and gold objects, as it was discovered in Ilmendorf.

I was, frankly, amazed at the sheer number of items on display. Cabinets and shelves covered entire walls, from floor to ceiling; you could walk over glass-covered depressions in the floor containing dozens of Roman weapons and tools; and there was even an entire mosaic, with a raised platform to view it in its entirety.

There were also interactive displays, such as illustrations depicting reconstructions of the various contexts of burials in Bavaria’s history, such as the deposition of decapitated heads in a cave, as well as examples of different textiles you could touch.

I’ll definitely be returning to check out the exhibition Gladiators – Heroes of the Colosseum, and I highly recommend any ancient history lovers visit if they’re ever in Munich!