On the first Sunday of Advent, the Franciscan Museum invites you to an atmospheric family tour led by museum educator Ute Pernt. In the past, the pre-Christmas season was a very special time in the Black Forest. It was cold, it got dark early, but everyone was filled with anticipation for Christmas. Perhaps the father, who sold Black Forest clocks far away, would finally come home again. On this family tour—suitable for young visitors ages 4 and up—families will learn all sorts of things about life in great-great-grandmother’s day. In the cozy Black Forest parlor, there are even some behind-the-scenes stories: St. Nicholas, the Advent calendar, and the Christmas tree—where do all these traditions come from?
You won’t find Santa Claus, garishly colorful lights, or the hustle and bustle of gift-giving at the Franciscan Museum. Instead, you’ll discover outstanding works of art that tell the true story of Christmas. On the second Sunday of Advent, families with children ages 4 and up have the opportunity to join museum educator Verena Duschek on a Christmas-themed museum tour. With her, visitors will discover precious highlights of the collection, such as the late-medieval “Christmas Tapestry,” and learn why not only the Three Wise Men but also St. Nicholas came from the Orient. The tour combines art history and the Christmas story with a playful approach: At the end, a nativity play is staged with the children.
The free family tour is part of the accompanying program for the arts and crafts market at the Franziskaner Cultural Center.
In 2019, the KeltenWelten e.V. association awarded a prize for the first time to recognize outstanding initiatives and activities by its members. An expert jury selected the Franziskanermuseum, which has distinguished itself through exceptional achievements in education, teaching, and public outreach in the field of Celtic heritage.
As part of the award ceremony, Dr. Jürgen Hald will give an archaeological lecture on the Celts between Baar and Lake Constance. The Hegau region is one of the most archaeologically rich landscapes in southwestern Germany. In recent years, large-scale excavations in construction sites and gravel pits have repeatedly uncovered traces of Iron Age settlements and grave finds dating from the first millennium BCE. The district archaeologist from Konstanz will present these new excavation findings. Free admission > learn more about the KeltenWelten e.V. association
Cultural studies scholar Dr. Sabine Dietzig-Schicht will take visitors on a tour of the Franciscan Museum to offer a seasonal perspective on the Black Forest collection and the city history section. Topics include Black Forest Christmas traditions, such as the “Raunächte” (the Twelve Days of Christmas), which are often unfamiliar today, as well as special museum pieces such as the precious “Christmas Tapestry,” which dates back to around 1500.
Gifts from the museum shop are locally sourced, require minimal packaging, and can be purchased daily at the tourist information office. These include gift certificates for the Museums-PASS-Musées, the art magazine accompanying the exhibition “Lust and Passion. Pain and Disappointment’—featuring articles on the Villingen Modernist painters—or a high-quality replica of a Celtic bird. Carnival items such as exhibition posters, Jaag catalogs, or—coming soon—the poster for the carnival exhibition “FAMILY SECRETS” are also very popular.
We look forward to your visit to the museum shop!
From January 12 to March 29, the Franciscan Museum, in cooperation with the Historische Narrozunft Villingen e.V., will present the major Carnival exhibition “FAMILY SECRETS. De Narro un si ganz Bagasch.”
Narro and Altvillingerin, Stachi and Morbili: These Carnival dream teams are widely known. But what does Swabian-Alemannic Carnival have to do with the Italian Commedia dell’arte or the Viennese Volkstheater? Where do all the devils, animals, and wild men in Carnival come from? The exhibition sets out to trace the Narro’s tangled family ties. It finds his brothers, sisters, and cousins not only in the region’s Carnival strongholds but far beyond.
The Christmas arts and crafts market will open its doors for the thirteenth time on the second weekend of Advent, featuring over 30 artisans this year at the invitation of the City Marketing Office. New outdoor booths, complemented by food and drinks as well as a cultural program, round out the offerings.
A Christmas comedy show featuring city tour guides Gunther Schwarz and Klaus Richter takes place at 2 p.m. each day. The Franziskaner Museum is open on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is free.
