Collection concept
The collection concept of Emsland Moormuseum follows the guidelines of the decentralised museum concept of the district of Emsland with regard to the focus of its collection, in line with the thematic and content-related orientation of all the other museums in the Emsland district. In addition, the museum engages in specialist exchange with regional and national museums. With regard to archival records, coordination takes place with the regional archives (Lower Saxony State Archive Osnabrück, Drenthe Archives, Assen (NL) and Kreisarchiv (district archives) Meppen). Supra-regional exchange with other cultural institutions that research and collect within the subject area is permanently provided for through Section 7, Regional Studies and Environmental Education, within the German Peat Society (DGMT).
In accordance with our mission as a museum, the collection objects are catalogued, stored professionally and appropriately, and restored if necessary. All the way from traction engines to peat soap, the collection currently comprises around 18,500 objects, some of which have yet to be catalogued.
Focal points of the Emsland Moormuseum collection
Thematically and geographically, the collection is structured as follows:
− Rural and settlement culture in the 17th and 18th centuries (Emsland)
− Settlement and cultivation in the pre-industrial period (northwestern Germany)
− Early peat extraction technology (Germany)
− General moorland and peat science (Germany/international)
− Rural and settlement culture in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the development of peat moorland in Emsland after 1945 (Emsland)
− Peat production and processing (focus on Germany, international)
− Technology of peat extraction and nature conservation (Germany)
− Economic significance of the peat moorlands. (Emsland/Germany/international)
− International organization and cooperation (international)
− Structural problems (international)
− Special topics: Balneology, urban hygiene, etc. (Germany)
In-house contact: Ansgar Becker, Tel: +49 (0)5937 7099912
Fig.: Miniature peat bales, promotional gift from the company Torfstreuverband, 1950