Rhineland-Palatinate
Art, History & Archaeology Sites & Museums
This page, part of our Germany Travel Guide, provides details of the art, archaeology and history sites, museums and related attractions to visit in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Readers wishing to visit these places will find visitor information, links to official websites as well as other helpful resources. Those who have an account (free of charge) can create their own travel lists and itineraries. To benefit fully from this website’s travel planning features, see the User’s Guide. The information on this page has been put together by various members of the Archaeology Travel team, based on both personal visits and research. The page was last checked and/or updated on 25 October 2023.
Create Your Rhineland-Palatinate Itinerary & Travel Lists
If you are planning a trip to Rhineland-Palatinate, and other regions in Germany, you can use our Itinerary Builder with the list of sites and museums below to create your own travel lists (such as places you have been to, places you would like to visit) and itineraries. These can be shared with your friends, privately and on social media. To make use of this feature, however, you will need to login or register as a new user. Registering to use these features is free of charge. Once registered and logged in, you can use the lists below to select sites and museums you would like to add to your itinerary and/or travel lists. Please Note: the lists below only include sites and museums in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, go to the German Travel Guide to find places to visit in the other states.
Historical Towns & Cities in Rhineland-Palatinate
Roman Trier - Augusta Treverorum
Founded by the Romans around 16 BC Trier is said to be the oldest city in Germany. By the 4th century AD, as one of the tetrarchy, it was one of the largest cities in the Empire, and known as ‘the second Rome’. Trier also has some extremely well preserved Roman remains. These include a bridge over the Moselle, an amphitheatre, bath houses and the basilica built for Constantine at the beginning of the 4th century AD. Together with two medieval cathedrals these Roman monuments have been included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
Roman Mainz - Mogontiacum
What started out as a strategically positioned Legionary base developed into a regional administrative and military centre. Mogontiacum often served as a military base for Roman incursions into the north and east of Germany. Its position on the Rhine, at the mouth of another major navigable river – the Main, made the town very attractive to traders who set up a port. Besides a few good museums, there are a number of Roman ruins to see in Mainz, including the remnants of an aqueduct, and the foundations of a temple.
Archaeology & History Sites in Rhineland-Palatinate
Boppard Roman Fort
The centre of present-day Boppard on the Rhine River is built on the remains of a mid 4th century AD Roman fort, named Bodobrica. This was one of the most important military camps on the Middle Rhine. The settlement was founded by the Celts, named Baudobriga. The size attests to the fort’s importance, at 308 × 154 m covering an area of 4,7 ha. The walls were 3 metres thick facing land sides, and 2,5 metres thick facing the Rhine side, reaching to a height 9 m with 20 towers – this was a formidable fort and is today one of the best preserved Roman forts in Germany.
German Government Bunker
Near the small town of Ahrweiler, the Cold War bunker served as a secure location for the German government to operate from in the event of a nuclear attack. Built underground between 1960 and 1972, it is an extraordinary feat of engineering as the bunker was designed to withstand a direct hit from a nuclear strike. It could accommodate up to 4,000 people for several weeks. Today visitors can take guided tours of the facility and see the living quarters, communication centres, and medical facility.
Roman Mine, Meurin
Vulkanpark is a rural geo-attraction focussed on a volcanic region in the eastern Vulkan Eifel area of Germany. A series of self-guided routes enable visitors to explore volcanology, archaeology and industrial history – and understand how the exploitation of volcanic rock has shaped the landscape since Roman times. Besides the Roman mine, the routes also take in a section of Roman walls near the town of Mayen and two Roman mound graves just outside the towns of Nickenich and Ochtendung.
Weilberg Villa, Bad Dürkheim
In 1981 the remains of a Roman Villa were excavated, and the walls partly reconstructed. Excavations revealed a wine press, and the slopes on which the villa’s ruins are found are still used to grow vines today. The earliest habitation is thought to have been around 50 BCE, but construction of the main stone-built villa began in the 2nd century CE. The site was abandoned by the 5th century. In all the Roman site is about 7.5 hectares. Today the site, which includes a reconstruction of the main house, is an open air museum.
Limeskastell, Pohl
The replica of the Limes fort at Pohl is based on excavations and up-to-date research. The Roman fort was on the northern border of the Empire, and was built around 100 CE. Today this open air museum is part of the Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes UNESCO World Heritage Site. The reconstructed buildings within the earth and wood rampart house permanent exhibitions showing what the living conditions at the fort were like for soldiers, as well as displaying artefacts from nearby Roman sites.
Museums & Art Galleries in Rhineland-Palatinate
Roscheider Hof
On the outskirts of Konz, the Roscheider Hof open-air museum has assembled a set of residential and trade buildings, and a vast collection of artefacts from the mid 19th century to the 1970s. Explore the small village made up of ten historic houses collected from various Hunsrück villages. Also on show is a Reich Labour Service barrack. Set in over 22 hectares, gardens demonstrate the history of agricultural practices in the area, with livestock, a vineyard and orchards. A quick tour takes around two hours, but with many activities and much to seer, most visitors spend the better part of a day here.
Rhineland-Palatinate Open Air Museum
In Bad Sobernheim the Rhineland-Palatinate Open Air Museum brings together a range of historic buildings from this region of Germany, spanning around 500 years of rural architectural history. The museum was founded in 1973 and now has over 40 buildings in its collection, as well as an escape room – said to be the first in a German open-air museum. As well as the buildings, the museum also maintains livestock, gardens, orchards and a vineyard using traditional farming techniques.
Terra Sigillata Museum
During the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD Rheinzabern, then called Tabernae, was probably the most important centre for the production of fine ceramic tableware, known as Terra Sigillata. Not only was the area rich in necessary raw materials required for the production of ceramic vessels, both clay and wood, the favourable transport conditions afforded by the Roman Rhine Valley Road, ensured great commercial success for the town. The museum explores pottery production during the Roman period, and visitors can take a guided tour to the nearby Roman Kilns.
Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Trier
Founded in 1877, this state museum exhibits artefacts from prehistory to the Baroque period, some 200,000 years of history from stone tools to elaborate Medieval art. Not surprisingly, a major focus of the museum is the Roman period, for which there are numerous displays that draw on the many archaeological finds excavated in Trier that tell the story of the Roman city of Augusta Treverorum. One particular highlight is the Trier Gold Hoard, found in 1993 it is the largest known hoard of Roman gold coins.
LVR-RömerMuseum, Xanten
A life-size protective structure has been erected over the ruins of a bath house, that resembles the outer appearance of the Roman building. The LVR-Römer Museum is housed in what would have been the entrance hall to that building. Visitors are able to view the foundations and various features of that 2,000 year old bath house, as well the exhibition of the many objects found in and around the Colonia of Roman Xanten. Displays are organised chronologically, and tell the history of this important Roman city.
Romano-Germanic Central Museum, Mainz
In June 2017 the Roman-Germanic Central Museum housed in the Electoral Palace of Mainz closed to the public in preparation for the move to Neutorstraße. Expected to open in 2024, there will be around 200,000 artefacts displayed in a new, state-of-the-art facility covering an estimated 14,500 square meters of exhibition space.
