The Prehistory Museum in Echternach

Echternach

Echternach is a commune with city status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg. Echternach lies near the border with Germany, and is the oldest town in Luxembourg....

, Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

, houses a collection of prehistoric artefacts principally from Luxembourg, northern Europe and France testifying to the history of mankind for more than a million years. It is located in the 15th century Hihof building in the centre of the town.

The Hihof

The Gothic Hihof building is adjacent to the church of Peter and Paul on the corner of the Rue du Pont. At the beginning of the 19th century, it housed the local grammar school before becoming an agricultural college in 1856. The museum was inaugurated in 1984.

The collection

The stoneage artefacts displayed in some 30 showcases include chopping tools, arrow tips, axes, daggers and grinding stones. There are explanations of how the tools were produced and used in practice. Some of the tools are from as far afield as North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and Papua and New Guinea. Life in the various prehistoric periods is illustrated with prehistoric skulls and reconstructions of old machines for sawing, weaving and threshing. There are also a number of video presentations.

Opening times

From 1 April to 15 November, the museum is open from 10 am to 12 noon and from 2 pm to 5 pm every day except Mondays. In July and August, it is open from 10 am to 5 pm without a break.