Museum in the barn

Considered a marvel of engineering in his day, Tulla presented his plans for taming the "wild" Rhine in 1817. The primary aim was to improve the living conditions of people living near the Rhine in order to protect them from floods and diseases such as rheumatism and intermittent fever.
Economic interests, especially shipping, were also an important driving force behind the expansion of the Rhine. This tense relationship between technical engineering achievements and economic and political interests on the one hand and the changes to living space on the other is presented in the Riedmuseum's permanent exhibition with numerous exhibits, maps, models and displays.

At the center is a 6 x 2.5 meter model of the Rhine floodplains on a scale of 1:2000. It simulates the course of the Rhine between Hügelsheim and Steinmauern in 1852. The model can be flooded and illustrates different water levels from low water to extreme floods as well as the effects on the surrounding area. The section of the river north of Ottersdorf had already been "rectified" at this time and shows the straightened Rhine that had been turned into a riverbed. The southern section, on the other hand, was still primeval Rhine territory, with its meandering riverbed branching out into many side arms. Plans and maps from 1595 to 1872 also document the changing course of the Rhine in the Ried landscape, which was always subject to extreme floods.

In order to define a border, precise measurements had to be taken - not so easy in a time without a standardized measurement system. One of Tulla's greatest achievements was to standardize the very different measures of length - the foot, ruthe and fathom - in a decimal system on the Baden side. This was defined by the original meter in Paris. The "Badische Normalmaßstab" from 1829 on display in the Riedmuseum sets the Baden "foot" at 30 centimetres. This made it possible to define the territorial and sovereign borders along the Rhine, which were planted with poplar avenues - these are represented in the Riedmuseum by printed flags.

A relic from the Merovingian period, a dugout canoe, concludes the tour of the museum. The boat was salvaged in the 1930s and dates back to 927 AD. The inhabitants of the Rhine used it to navigate the waters to catch fish, cross the river or reach the agricultural Rhine islands. Opposite the dugout canoe in the entrance area of the museum is a mighty ship's bow, which is intended to illustrate the Rhine as a water and transport route. The two exhibits focus on the transformation of a tranquil river and marshland landscape, albeit one that is not very comfortable for people, into a highly mechanized artificial landscape shaped by industrial and economic interests.