November 30, 2018 - April 28, 2019

Since time immemorial, people have been fascinated by the magic of brilliant gold. More than 6,500 years ago, there was an ancient culture on the west coast of the Black Sea. At that time, a nation of peasants in the area of Varna discovered the cultivation of copper and gold. At first it was copper, with which people covered the bodies of their deceased chiefs, tribal elders and priests. But soon they gave the dead gold for eternity. More than 3,000 gold objects and other burial objects from prehistoric Varna were discovered during an archeological dig in the 1970s. The golden grave goods from the middle of the 5th millennium BC are among the oldest known jewels in the world. The exhibition "The oldest gold in the world" shows a spectacular selection from the grave finds of gold, copper and clay and leads into the world of one of the oldest cultures in the world and the beginning of civilization. The finds have already been shown in Bulgaria, Japan, Canada, France, Italy, Israel and the Netherlands, among others. Now comes the exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Varna with one of the most spectacular gold discoveries in the world to Rostock.

July 7, 2017 – November 5, 2017

On the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the protestant reformation the Rostock Cultural History Museum presents an exhibition on its history. The exhibition not only broaches the issue of events related to the reformation in Rostock and Mecklenburg, but also the cultural and religious exchange processes connected to it. The ecclesiastic and religious life and the faith before reformation, the development leading to upheaval and transformation, and the development of the protestant regional church in Mecklenburg since the mid-16th century play their role. Hence an overall view emerges onto the versatile religious, cultural and social processes during the 16th and 17th century, which can be summarized under the notion of reformation and its consequences.

Not only was Rostock the intellectual centre of the reformation in Mecklenburg, but also became an extraordinary multiplier of reformatory ideas as early as the 1520s. This is owed to the first protestant preacher in Rostock, Joachim Slüter. Already in 1525 he released a protestant hymnbook and in 1526 a prayer booklet, both in Low German language, which are the oldest evidence of this type at all. Especially the hymnbook became a bestseller and was distributed far beyond the boundaries of Mecklenburg. Hymns from Rostock shaped the protestant community singing in Sweden and Denmark, and also in England and Latvia as in many territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Characters like David Chyträus and Johann Quistorp senior, or Johann Friedrich König, Heinrich Müller, or Theophil Großgebuer shaped Lutheranism beyond the boundaries of the empire and let emanate Rostock’s influence across the Baltic Sea towards Scandinavia.

March 10, 2017 – June 11, 2017

In the middle of the 19th century cities expanded beyond their surrounding walls. As railway stations developed the city walls lost their function and gradually disappeared. Rostock as well expanded towards the West and South since 1850. Outside the “Steintor” residences arose in place of gardens and farmers houses. Farm tracks turned into avenues. Soon “Wallstraße” (Wall Street) was graced by first splendid mansions. After the Lloyd railway station was opened in 1886 a suburb developed featuring civic mansions and apartments along wide and generous tree lined avenues. Soon 6.970 citizens were housed in 784 buildings in the novel “Steintor-Vorstadt” (Stone Gate Suburb) around 1900. The area outside the “Steintor” became Rostock’s priciest neighbourhood.

For the first time an exhibition of the Rostock Cultural History Museum is dedicated to the southern suburb. You are invited for a stroll through the developing streets. Historical photographs and documents provide the backdrop for a journey into Wilhelminian time around 1900. The view onto the life of Rostock’s citizens inside the mansions and apartments is amended by stories and memories of citizens and visitors which bring the suburb to life.