Museum history

The Pottery Museum Raeren is located in the 14th century Raeren Castle since 1963. Shortly after its opening, it caused a sensation among national and international experts as it was the first to present a comprehensive overview of the history of Raeren stoneware. To this day, the Pottery Museum Raeren is the only institution in the world that can offer such a complete overview.

The collection of the Pottery Museum consists largely of archaeological finds that have been made in Raeren since the 1950s. These include simple utilitarian tableware from the 13th and 14th centuries as well as artistically decorated Renaissance and Baroque vessels. Important permanent loans from the Hetjens Museum in Düsseldorf and the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels complete the overview of the entire history of Raeren stoneware up to its end in the 19th century.

The exhibition also includes 19th-century historicist products, in particular works by Hubert Schiffer, and 20th-century replicas. At the beginning of the 1980s, the museum also received an important donation: the Rehker Collection. In addition to Roman ceramics, this mainly comprises historical stoneware from other Rhenish production centres (Langerwehe, Cologne/Frechen, Siegburg and Westerwald) as well as East German stoneware.

Since 1995, the museum has also been collecting contemporary ceramics.