Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum

With more than 3,000 square metres of exhibition grounds, the Hällisch-Fränkische Museum in Schwäbisch Hall ranks among the largest museums in the country. In seven historic buildings, among them the Staufer Keckenturm built in 1238/39, the Dokumentationszentrum displays the history, art and culture of the city and the region ? starting with the geohistorical beginnings and stretching to the present times. The oldest exhibition features are excavations dating back to the Ice Age and a collection of fossils.

The topical review of the museum extends from the salt production during the Celtic era, through the history of the city during the Middle Ages and late Middle Age piety, all the way to Napoleon power politics in Hall and the Second World War. On tha basis of historic testimonials, excellent works of art and various items of everyday life, the visitor gains insight into the social and cultural life. Many exhibits have a supra-regional meaning, such as the small sculptures made from alabaster and ivory. They were created by Leonhard Kern, one of the most important sculptors of the 17th century, who resided in Hall during the Thirty Years' War. The section Hällische Kunst (Hall Art) during the 19th century displays opuses of Louis Braun, born in Hall and the most important German panorama painter. With 200 painted shooting target disks dating to the 18th and 19th century, the museum possesses one of the largest collections of this kind in Europe. The most significant existing testimonial of Jewish culture in Germany is the boarding of a Jewish prayer room which today is owned by the museum: In 1738/39, the Jewish muralist Elizier Sussmann created the boarding of the Unterlimpurg prayer room. The room, maintained to this date in its full blaze of colours, provides an overview over the former rabbi district Braunsbach-Schwäbisch Hall and the Württemberg-Jewish history, together with other exhibits.