Gold exhibitions worth visiting this summer

Summer holidaymakers may yearn first and foremost for trips to the beach, hiking in the most beautiful spots in Europe or interesting city trips to get to know other countries and customs. But the weather does not always play along: sometimes it’s raining cats and dogs, and sometimes, with temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius, it’s far too hot for outside activities. There are exciting indoor alternatives. Here are some suggestions for gold exhibitions in Germany and other European countries.

Germany: from gold towns to walk-in gold mines

In Pforzheim, Baden-Württemberg, the Jewellery Museum and the Technical Museum not only offer extensive insights into gold processing and jewellery production, but the so-called Turmquartier is also home to the interactive exhibition “Gold. Money. Society”, revealing interesting facts about the precious metal, free of admission. A visit to the aptly named Goldkronach in Bavaria offers a more active experience. In addition to the mining museum, a walk-through gold mining tunnel beckons, and a gold panning plant invites visitors to join in. Also in Bavaria, the Knauf Museum in Iphofen is exhibiting courtly jewellery from West Africa until November 2024 with “The Gold of the Akan” exhibit, impressively displaying enormous craftsmanship and unique aesthetics. 

Interesting exhibitions in France, Finland and Switzerland 

A rather unusual approach to the subject of gold “and what it makes of us humans”, as the exhibitors emphasise, is offered by the “Gold in the Tower” exhibition in the historic Upper Tower in Kaiserstuhl, Switzerland, which is worth a visit in itself. The exhibition “Sun, Gold and Diamonds” in the Paris Louvre, on the other hand, is quite classical and rather grandiose, focussing on the sun god Apollo and his influence on French aristocracy. One of the most impressive collections of prehistoric gold artefacts can be found in the Gold Collection of the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. The Kultamuseo in Tankavaara, Finland, includes an open-air museum with the opportunity for visitors to try their hand at gold panning, as well as two gold exhibitions: “The History of Lapland Gold” and “Golden World – International Gold History”. Further information on the duration of the exhibitions, opening times and admission prices can be found on the websites of the museums mentioned.