INDIAN MUSEUM  BRETTEN  / Germany  

located 45 km south from Heidelberg –

a little bit from everything from „Old America“ !

The collection, of which 2/3,000 alternating exhibits are presented each year, documents everyday life of “America’s First People” from  Canadian Inuit up to Amazonas Natives as well as the life of settlers, missionaries, trappers, cowboys and soldiers – mostly from the 19^th century.

It not only contains original garments, jewelry, weapons, a Teepee, a log home, a belt clasp from General Custer’s 7^th Cavalry, many dug out relics, but also original ‘buffalo chips’ (= dry buffalo dung) from North Dakota, which served the American Indians and the pioneers as fuel.

The collection also embraces the extremely rare white and blue delftware pearls with which the Dutch once “bought” New York from the Manahatta-Lenape!

Thomas Merbt, the founder and director of the museum, traveled to the USA in 1961 as a ship boy and has been fascinated by “The Old America” ever since. For the most part, his collection has resulted from trading German military wartime objects, which he salvaged during his time as a public safety diver, with German GI’s. Once, an American officer even bartered his stuffed bison from the Kevin Costner film “Dances with the Wolves” for a Black Forest cupboard.

Also on display: the largest US Civil War Collection in Germany, Navajo Code Talker diorama  “Pacific 1944/45” with a lot Original USMC and Imperial Japanese military stuff, a cowboy chuck wagon, 4 antique Indian boats from  Inka-Tortora up to Ojibwa birchbark-canoe and much more.

In 1998, Chief Thomas Earl Nichols, the long-time chief of the Santa Rosa Creek Indians in Florida, adopted Thomas Merbt and awarded him the name “Turned Apple”. This name intends to signify that Thomas Merbt is white on the outside and red on the inside, a designation that seems well-deserved, based upon his dedication to the Indian Museum.

By the way: During the special exhibition in 2009 marking the 100^th Anniversary of Geronimo’s death, descendants of legendary Geronimo (Henry V. Reyna) and of Al Sieber, the ‘Chief of the Scouts’ visited the Indian Museum Bretten. Al(bert) Sieber was born in Bad Schoenborn-Mingolsheim (25 km away from the Museum) !

And a U-Boat & Navy Museum is upstairs! (www.u-bootmuseum.eu)

Translated by Volker  C. Ihle  1000 Dank!  

Please  enjoy his region guide:  Karlsruhe und die / and the USA – INFO VERLAG