A historic gem at the Rosgarten Museum is the so-called “Leinersaal” named after the museum founder. In this “museum within a museum”, various objects of geology, palaeontology, and archaeology document the history of the earth and the origin of life up to the Bronze Age. Impressive Jurassic fossils from the region are also on display, as well as late Ice Age findings, and a large number of items from lake dwellings of the late Neolithic and Bronze Age.

For more than 500 years, the political fate of the city of Constance rested with its bishops. After the diocese was founded around the year 600 A.D., bishops ruled the town and its citizens. In order to create a free imperial city, Emperor Henry VI granted the people of Constance exemption from the payment of episcopal taxes in 1192. Only in 1308, however, the first mayor was appointed at Constance. After the 1548 ban by Emperor Charles V, Constance became an Anterior Austrian country town. In 1806, Napoleon assigned it to the Grand Duchy of Baden.

Initially, Constance was a mere Celtic settlement, which evolved into a fortified Roman military site. Then, it became a medieval town with churches and monasteries. Later on, the railway train was introduced, the harbour extended. Today’s townscape also boasts shopping malls and industrial installations.

The historical model of Constance on the gallery provides a detailed view of the medieval town.

At the end of the 18^th century, emigrants from Geneva created new scientific momentum. 19^th-century technical innovations such as steam navigation and the connection to the railway line eventually marked the beginning of a modern era in Constance. Progressive lawyer Carl Hüetlin, elected mayor in 1832, promoted the foundation of a savings bank and the harbour extension. The city tore down its old fortified towers and medieval walls, thus getting rid of its medieval confines. Constance has developed into a popular destination for travellers and those seeking relaxation.

The historic “Zunftsaal” (guildhall) is the Rosgarten Museum’s front room. In 1454, the two houses “Zum Rosgarten” and “Zum schwarzen Widder” were structurally united. The guildhall was established around the same time. As its name suggests, members and guests of the “Rosgarten” guild used this place as taproom and assembly hall. The wall panelling is adorned with emblems of local patrician families and the Swabian League. The inset cabinet disks date back to the 17^th century.

One of the most prominent testimonials to the history of Constance is the so-called “Richental Chronicle”. In his richly illustrated chronicle, Constance citizen Ulrich Richental recorded events of the Council of Constance, which took place between 1414 and 1418. On large-size paper pages, the chronicler, in his Upper German Alemannic dialect, wrote about important occasions and small everyday occurrences. Five illustrators later enriched his descriptions with coloured pen and ink drawings. The Constance manuscript presented here was compiled around 1464.

As a diocesan centre, the city of Constance used to be an important commissioner for local painters and sculptors. Some of the religious panels were produced in the Constance manufactories of Peter Murer and Rudolf Stahel. The so-called “Blarer donor tablet” is also attributed to Stahel’s workshop. Dating back to 1225, it commemorates donors and benefactors to the Constance hospital.

Luther’s teachings were well received in Constance. Both citizenry and town council converted to the new religion. When the council prohibited Catholic practices ever more strictly, the bishop finally left town and moved to Meersburg. Afterwards, strict discipline was imposed on everyday life in the reformed city.

In political terms, the town sought to connect itself to the Protestant towns of Switzerland and the “Schmalkaldic Union of German Protestants”. In 1548, the Catholic Emperor Charles V decided to intervene in the matter. Constance lost its status as a free city and was appropriated by Austria. Catholicism was re-established. The reformers as well as many Protestant families were forced to leave Constance.

During the 17^th century, excellent handcrafted objects of more than just regional importance were created in the diocesan town of Constance. For example, gold works by renowned artisans, or small sculptures by Christoph Daniel Schenck or Hans Zürn.

The 18^th and 19^th century produced artists who were widely admired. Next to the Baroque painter Franz Ludwig Hermann, painter Marie Ellenrieder from Constance is highlighted in the permanent exhibition. Ellenrieder was the first woman admitted to study at the Arts Academy in Munich, court painter of the Grand Duke of Baden as well as a prominent portraitist. From the Mosbruggers, a well-known painter family of Constance, several portraits by Friedrich Mosbrugger are on display.

After the end of Napoleon’s rule, the political liberties of the citizens were curtailed at the Congress of Vienna (1815). The following “Restoration Period” triggered a strong turn towards “inwardness”: The citizens withdrew into the private sphere, played cards, collected knick-knacks, read poems and novels to themselves and smoked the tobacco pipe. At the same time there were great technological, economic and scientific upheavals, and a revolutionary new style of furniture was created. In Constance, French and Swiss immigrants founded partly successful textile companies. Soon a progressive political journalism of the growing unity and constitutional movement ventured back into the public eye. Typical everyday objects from this period, ironically called “Biedermeier” after 1850, are shown here.

Even in the provinces, the German majority had adjusted itself to Hitler’s “dictatorship of favours”. Yet, in 1939, the growing fear of an upcoming war affected everyday life in Constance. The state terror was ubiquitous: Jewish shops became “Aryanised”; politically conspicuous neighbours were pestered by the Gestapo. The exhibition highlights forgotten victims and courageous men and women who smuggled refugees across the German-Swiss border. Among them: Johann Georg Elser, who decided to assassinate Hitler. On the 8^th of November 1939, the day of his failed attempt on Hitler’s life, Elser was arrested in Constance.