Fiat Voluntas — Eel Fishing Museum in the Aalschokker fishing boat

Museum on the historic ship on the Rhine

Directly on the Rhine is where you’ll find the elevated, historic eel fishing boat called “Fiat Voluntas.” The ship houses the Eel Fishing Museum with an interactive exhibition. On board, you can experience the history of the Rhine fishing industry and everyday life on an eel fishing boat. Take a look in the cooking pot or browse through the living manuscript!
How were eels caught? How did the fishermen and their families live? And how did the ship get on a record cover of the local punk rock band Die Toten Hosen? Get answers to all these questions on and below deck.

This exhibition booklet offers English explanations and translations and will assist you with your visit.
Download: Brochure Fiat Voluntas (4,6 MB)

For a long time, the catching and smoking of eels and other fish was an important industry in the town. The eels were caught in a special kind of boat, the “Aalschockker,” as they swam downstream past Monheim am Rhein on their way to the open sea. From May to November, fishermen were on the Rhine during the hours of darkness to make a big catch and then sell it. But with industrialization along the Rhine, the water quality became increasingly worse, which led to a dramatic decline in the number of fish there in the middle of the 20th century – and ultimately to the end of the professional Rhine fishing industry in Monheim am Rhein.

Until the 1990s, there were still several smokehouses in Monheim am Rhein, including one on Klappertorstrasse in Baumberg, right next to the museum ship that stands elevated on dry land there today. Here, where eels were once smoked, you will now find the Eel Fishing Museum, an interesting excursion destination in a beautiful location on the Rhine.