War and Peace: Celts, Romans, Germans

One of my favorite museums is the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, which I visited yesterday. One of its charms is that it is usually very quiet, and that the collection of Roman antiquities (all from the Rhineland) is absolutely marvellous. It is hard to say which museum is better: Bonn, Cologne, Haltern, or Mainz – the Germans have so many good museums.

This time, there was a small exposition on Roman helmets, including the replica on the photo (©Jasper Oorthuys). There was also a large exhibition of objects related to the Roman conquest of this area, called Krieg und Frieden. Kelten – Römer – Germanen. Needless to say that there were many military objects. The museum had taken several tombstones from its storage, which we had never seen before. On the other hand, there were several objects from Dutch museums that we already knew, like that bust of Caesar that is usually in Leiden, and several objects that are normally shown in the museum of Tongeren (which is now closed).

After the slightly disappointing visit to the Alexandrian exhibition in the Bundeskunsthalle, the Rheinisches Landesmuseum was a delight. You can still see everything until 6 January 2008. By the way, the museum restaurant is excellent.