Traces of Humanity. Archaeology around Ulm
How did our ancestors live, and what traces did they leave behind? The new archaeological exhibition “Traces of Humanity: Archaeology Around Ulm” (Jan. 16–June 6, 2027) at the Ulm Museum explores what we can learn about the past from these traces today.
At the heart of the exhibition is the Lion Man figurine, one of the oldest figurative works of art in the world. Carved from mammoth ivory approximately 40,000 years ago, the figurine was discovered in 1939 in the Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave in the Lone Valley near Ulm (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site).
The new collection presentation at the Ulm Museum invites visitors on a journey back in time—to an era when the Lion Man was created, and the valleys of the Swabian Alb and the pile dwellings were still inhabited; to a time when only a few people lived in what is now the city of Ulm, and Ulm did not yet have a name.
Due to renovation work, the exhibition will be on view initially through June 2027, before the demolition and reconstruction of the neighboring entrance building of the Ulm Museum—scheduled for August 2027—begins. To protect the exhibits and ensure visitor safety, it is not possible to keep the exhibition open while the neighboring building is being demolished and rebuilt. The full reopening of the Museum Ulm is scheduled for late 2029.
The redesign of the archaeological collection related to the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Caves and Ice Age Art of the Swabian Alb” at the Ulm Museum is generously supported by the federal government’s “Investments for National Cultural Institutions in Germany (INK)” funding program.
