Our History

1803:
Assignment of 36 paintings from Paris to the – at the time – French departmental capital of Mayence by decree of Napoleon Bonaparte. Paintings, Roman finds and altars from secularized churches are exhibited in a former university building on Neubrunnenplatz. Some of the Roman gravestones, which were presented in a publication as early as 1521, are still in the museum's collection today.

1841:
The art dealer Martin von Metzler dies in Wiesbaden and appoints the city as heir to his collection of paintings. It comprises over 200 items.

1842:
Relocation of all municipal collections to the former Electoral Palace. The collection of the Rheinische Naturforschende Gesellschaft (Nature Research Society) and the City Library are also housed there; the RGZM is added in 1852.

1844:
Foundation of the Mainz Antiquities Society. Until 1910, the association carried out archaeological excavations and maintained the Museum of Antiquities with its sections on archaeology, arts and crafts, folklore and medieval sculptures.

1895:
The unification of the Museum of Prints and Drawings and the Art Gallery in 1903 enriched the collection with 13,000 prints from the estate of Adolph M. Laské alone.

1910:
The Mainz Antiquities Society transfers its responsibility for the Museum of Antiquities to the City of Mainz.

1937:
Opening of the Museum of Antiquities in the former electoral stables, the later "Golden Ross Barracks", on the Große Bleiche.

1939-45:
Large-scale salvage of inventories through externalisation. Destruction of the building on the Große Bleiche and the Electoral Palace.

from 1950:
Reconstruction and renovation of the buildings on the Große Bleiche with the help of the French military government and private donations.

1962:
Reopening of the newly established museum complex with an art gallery and antiquities museum. 30,000 years of cultural history from the Neolithic Age to the present day can once again be experienced under one roof.

1967:
Takeover by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, merger of the Museum of Antiquities and the Art Gallery to form the "Middle Rhine State Museum Mainz".

1978:
Reconstruction of the wing on Schießgartenstrasse.

1981:
Opening of the Stone Hall as an exhibition hall for the Roman monuments.

1986:
Renamed "Landesmuseum Mainz".

2001-2010:
Extensive refurbishment and conversion of the Landesmuseum Mainz.

2008:
The Landesmuseum Mainz will be one of six directorates of the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate, which was founded in 2007.

2016:
The state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate sets up its temporary plenary chamber in the Steinhalle during the renovation of the Deutschhaus.

(2021).
The State Parliament and the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage announce the future joint use of the Steinhalle, which will return to the sponsorship of the State Museum.