Romano-Germanic Museum

The Belgian House presents well-known and new finds in a fresh setting, bringing the history of Roman and Frankish Cologne to life. There are around 1,000 finds in total – from a tomb weighing several tons to a delicate Roman gold finger ring. 

The presentation focuses on unique finds from the Roman period: documents of luxury and lifestyle in Colonia, evidence of long-distance trade extending as far as North Africa, local handicrafts, precision medical instruments, monuments to local and foreign deities, but also everyday life in the ancient city. The glittering highlight of the presentation are the fragile masterpieces of the world's most important ancient glass collection, centered around the unique multicolored net diatret. Early Christian gravestones and late antique costume jewelry show the harbingers of the new rule in Cologne. 

The Roman-Germanic Museum also performs the duties of the lower monument authority and specialist office for archaeological monument preservation in accordance with the North Rhine-Westphalia Monument Protection Act. Every year, several dozen rescue excavations and prospections are carried out throughout the city. 

In addition, the Roman-Germanic Museum looks after more than a hundred fixed archaeological monuments in the city area, including the preserved parts of the Roman city wall, the excavations under St. Severin, the Roman sludge trap in Berrenrather Straße, and the Roman burial chamber in Cologne-Weiden.