A group of museums in the grounds of what used to be the Bangert manor – today’s palace gardens – offer rare objects well worth discovering.

Palace Gardens’ Museum (Schlossparkmuseum)

The Palace Gardens’ Museum in the former manor house of the Bangert knights, in which the formative interior decoration and furnishing of the 19th century have been partly preserved, contains a section for early history and prehistoric times alongside town and art history collections. A further highlight is the fossil collection from Hunsrück slate quarries. The history of the Bangert manor and its owners and their connection to Bad Kreuznach is a central theme of the town history collection. The transformation from a free aristocratic manor house to a prestigious but small upper-class palace around the turn of the century is described. Of special interest is the portrayal of the Cauer family of sculptors which produced four generations of top artists.

Roman Hall (Römerhalle)

The Palace Gardens’ Museum is not alone on the so-called green island of the gardens which nestle into the slopes of the Kauzenberg: A Roman villa can also be found here. Remains of a magnificent villa from Roman times (2nd – 4th centuries AD) are exhibited. Highlight of the collection are two almost completely preserved mosaic floors. The gladiator mosaic shows circus scenes from fighting games. The ocean mosaic shows in its numerous motifs a colourful display of ocean creatures and maritime scenes around the imposing horned head of the God Oceanus. Many more exhibits give an insight to Roman religion, culture and daily life.

Puppet Theatre and Museum of Puppet Theatres (PuK Museum für PuppentheaterKultur)

The third in the group of museums will be the puppet theatre museum, due to open in spring 2005. After conversion of the historical Bangert manor into a museum with a theatrical stage and puppet workshop, almost 2000 artistic puppets will be presented to the public in varying exhibitions from 2005 onwards. These puppets are part of an important collection of Karl Heinz Rother. He has put together complete puppet ensembles and puppet stages, stage sets and original posters, including the world famous Hohnstein Punch and well-known puppets from theatre and television (Tünnes and Schäl; Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliwatüüt). The exquisite collection covers two centuries and will inspire and delight children and adults alike. The works of renowned wood carvers are part of the collection, which also includes a complete “Faust” cast, characters from fairy tails, Asian puppets and a shadow theatre. Not just the lively and modern presentation but also a theatre and workshop ensure it is a theatre museum where touching the puppets and joining in are encouraged and where visitors can have fun.

Install

An exhibition of contemporary art is shown in the art room “Install” on the ground floor of the former farming estate.

Cauer House

If the numerous Cauer sculptures in the palace gardens’ museum have made you curious, a visit to Cauer house is worth while. The museum there preserves the studio of the last member of this artistic dynasty from Bad Kreuznach: Hannah Cauer.