As if time had stood still, visitors to the Open-Air Museum for Folklore in Schwerin-Mueß wander among historical buildings and orchards. Even an old village school can be visited. The approximately 8-hectare village area with museally furnished buildings provides an impression of the life of the rural population of Mecklenburg from the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century. From the 'Hufe I', with its Lower German hall house and passage barn, to the children's museum on the historic school grounds, there is much to discover for the whole family.

The special feature of the Mueß Open-Air Museum, opened in 1970, is the originality of the place. The grown structures of a former demesne village are clearly recognizable. Except for the village blacksmith, which was transferred from the community of Stove to Mueß in 1975, all museum buildings are located at their original sites of origin. In addition, cobblestone pavements, dry stone walls, pastures, and orchards still characterize the original village character.

As different as the houses were, so were their inhabitants. In the exhibitions, you can get to know them a little better and learn about how they lived and worked. In the 'Hufe', for example, you can meet the farmer Carl Goerss, who had his family photographed on his farm in 1925. While the women proudly presented themselves with white aprons, the photographer might have seemed a bit suspicious to him, but he was also proud of his farm. After all, his father had concluded the first hereditary lease contract in Mueß, whereas before there were only uncertain fixed-term leases.

The smallest house in the museum is, culturally speaking, the most valuable. It is a shepherd's hut that was already recorded on a Mueß cadastral map in 1755. The village shepherds and their families lived here in the tightest of spaces. There was the 70-year-old cowherd Johann Bosch with his wife Trine, who had to share the hut with the equally elderly pig herder Hans Jochen Lübben and his much younger wife. Her name was also Trine, which undoubtedly led to all sorts of confusion in the dark smoke-filled hut. Both families had three children each, who had to go into service at a very early age to avoid being a burden to their parents.

If you carefully examine the historical photos in the old village school, you will come across the slender and, as it was said, rather nervous schoolmaster Bredfeldt. At the end of the 19th century, he lived with his wife and sister-in-law in the right half of the thatched school building. However, he did not have a quiet private space in the house. The apartment was small, assistant teachers were quartered there, and he always had to ensure that the schoolrooms were cleaned and heated in winter, as well as that the gardening was done. His income was never very lavish, although he often had to teach more than 30 children simultaneously.
As the popular saying went at the time: 'What the post horse is among animals, the school teacher is among people, a creature with much good will, much work, much patience, much boredom, and extremely meager food.'
Feel at home here: For museum visitors, it is often a truly special experience to squeeze into the narrow creaky wooden benches, deftly guide the stylus across the slate, and decipher the old cursive script.

If you fully immerse yourself in the village of Mueß, you will discover more than just history, stories, and human destinies. It is the uniqueness of the location, on the southern shore of Lake Schwerin. There, where the women of Mueß once beat the dirt out of their laundry, the fishermen set up their nets, and the shepherds led the cattle to drink, there is now a natural shoreline area that offers a magnificent view of the islands of Kaninchen and Ziegelwerder. A modern jetty is planned at this location to provide access to the Mueß district via the waterway. This would create a connection to the castle on the opposite shore of the lake. After all, Mueß belonged to the ducal domain for a long time.

The village schoolteacher's garden, located not far from the shore, used to be an important source of food and income for the local teacher. The museum grounds were extensively designed with historical knowledge and are now lovingly and ecologically cultivated by the museum gardener. The garden contains nearly 70 different old vegetable varieties, a rose roundel, and an herb bed, as well as numerous perennials and various fruit trees. Here, the museum is dedicated to preserving old vegetable varieties and making the former diversity tangible. Every year, its own seeds are harvested, dried, and processed. A rich seed exchange box awaits visitors, arousing curiosity about old vegetable varieties such as 'Früher Heinrich' and 'Eifelgelb'. Herbs like fennel and caraway or perennials like the 'Blue Sky Ladder' or the 'Red Foxglove' can also be found here. Thus, forgotten varieties can be revived and disseminated, as plants are also part of living cultural heritage.
The orchard, with its enormous variety of varieties, is not only idyllic to look at, but also ensures a constant supply of fresh fruit due to the different ripening times and offers food and habitat to many insects, birds, and small mammals. From the apples and pears that are not eaten raw or used in cakes, delicious juice is pressed in a nearby Demeter cider mill.
In addition, visitors can observe farm animals such as sheep, chickens, and bees up close. How valuable and innovative beekeeping was and still is in Mecklenburg is shown by a bee education trail within the museum grounds. Special guided tours on this topic can also be booked.
When the roosters Konstantin and Caruso lead their hens through the village or the sheep feel like fresh grass again, then the peace in the tranquil village is palpable. But these sounds fit all too well into this place. Through the Klöndör. e.V., the museum's supporting association, animal husbandry has become continuously possible here.