The Römisches Museum Augsburg in den Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg

The Römisches Museum (Roman Museum) is part of the Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg (Augsburg art collections and museums), which include a total of eight buildings and the city archaeology department. It was opened in 1966 in the former Dominican Church of St. Magdalena on the Predigerberg with the addition of the "Swabian Collection of Prehistoric and Early Historic Archaeological Finds" and thus sought to address the desideratum for a museum that offered enough space to present important archaeological finds from Roman Augsburg and the nearby surroundings. The predecessors, the Antiquarium Romanum founded in 1822 by Johann Nepomuk Franz Anton von Raiser (1768-1853) and, from 1855, the exhibition in the Maximilian Museum, could not do justice to the ever-growing number of finds.

The Dominican Church, which was secularised in 1807 and had previously served as a warehouse, among other things, was made home to a study collection in addition to the display collection, which focused on the civilian and military legacies of the Romans, but also presented finds from prehistory, early history and the Middle Ages across different epochs. All areas from washing fragments to scientific research and administration were now under one roof. The scientific research and reappraisal focus finally shifted with the founding of the city archaeology department in 1978 and the 1980s building boom, which brought a huge abundance of finds to light.

In December 2012, the museum had to be closed and completely evacuated due to structural defects in the church. 160 stone monuments and 1,800 individual objects from the display collections had to be removed from the museum. Added to this were the finds from the study collection, which filled almost 700 transport boxes. After an initial period in which they were stored in emergency repositories, the museum’s holdings were transferred to the town archaeology department’s newly established central repository in 2017.

To be able to continue showcasing the Roman era of the city, which is so important to Augsburg, even without a museum, the significantly reduced interim exhibition "Römerlager. Das römische Augsburg in Kisten" (Roman Camp. Roman Augsburg in Boxes) was set up and opened in the Toskanische Säulenhalle in the Augsburg Armoury in 2015. As the name implies, this is an interim solution. The exhibition is divided into seven main areas that reflect Roman life in Augsburg: the founding of the settlement, military, trade/commerce, traffic, gods, everyday life and farewell. In addition, there are sections dealing, for example, with donations from private collections, current research results or archaeological methods.

• The objects of the "Römisches Museum Augsburg in den Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg" available on bavarikon

Collections owned by the "Römisches Museum Augsburg in den Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg" available in bavarikon

• Roman Camp in the Armoury

The exhibitions of the "Römisches Museum Augsburg in den Kunstsammlungen und Museen Augsburg" available on bavarikon

• Augusta Vindelicum - Augsburg. Roman finds from one of the oldest cities in Bavaria