If your heart is a museum, be ready to fill it with exhibits from the exciting history of museum collections and private collections.
The foundation for Attendorn’s museum was laid by the Association for Local History in 1898. The collected items were first exhibited in a tavern.
The exhibits mainly included items that were found by the early cave explorers and archaeologists, as well as ethnological and professional artifacts, and sacred art.
The collection moved into the Gothic town hall in 1909. It has been expanding ever since, and plans for a Museum of Local History were made as early as the 1930s. These plans were, however, thwarted by the outbreak of World War II.
After major losses due to the war, representatives of the Association for Local History began making plans for a building retrofit since the 1950s. In 1967, after extensive renovations, the town hall served as a Museum of Local History in its entirety for the first time. Today, the museum goes by the name of Südsauerlanduseum, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte des Kreises Olpe in Attendorn (Southern Sauerland Museum of Art and Cultural History for the District of Olpe in Attendorn).
In 2008, the museum received a fresh concept. This involved modernisation of the permanent exhibition and refurbishment of the technical installations. It now presents the history, art and culture of Southern Westphalia, the District of Olpe and the town of Attendorn in 11 units (“topical islands”) drawing from the museum’s extensive, over 100-year-old collection.