The development of Saxony from the time of the first hunters and gatherers to the beginning of industrialization is presented in a three-story exhibition on approximately . The first floor covers the longest period of time in the permanent archaeological exhibition, spanning almost 300,000 years. The oldest stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic period come from the
Markkleeberg site. The depictions of horses on the slate plate from the Groitzsch site near
Eilenburg are more than 12,000 years old. Additional information can be found on climate history, evolution, anthropology, zoology, genetics and anatomy. In cooperation with the
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in
Leipzig, a museum laboratory was created to illustrate the differences between
Neanderthals and people living today. A special feature of the first floor is the "Glass Neanderthal". It is reminiscent of the Glass Man in the
German Hygiene Museum in
Dresden. The second exhibition floor shows farming cultures from the
Neolithic period (5500 BC) to the
early Middle Ages (800 AD). On display is the 7000 year old wooden frame of the
Linear Pottery culture well from
Eythra near
Zwenkau, one of the oldest wooden buildings in Europe. The completely preserved ceramic vessels decorated with bark bast and pitch from the
Neolithic well at Altscherbitz near Leipzig are remarkable. The oldest clay figure in
Central Europe with clearly male sexual characteristics from Zschernitz is located next to the Venus of Zauschwitz, a female idol from the early Neolithic period. The Saxon
Bronze Age (2200–800 BC) with its treasure trove-like depots, e.g. the Bronze Age depots at
Kyhna and Dobritz, offers another highlight of the exhibition. A mirror installation shows visitors how people dressed during the
Iron Age (800–450 BC) and the
Roman Imperial Period (0–375 AD). This transforms the reflection into a clothed and fully equipped person from the Iron Age or Imperial Period. The approximately long rear wall on the third exhibition floor offers an insight into the medieval world with its presentation of 1,200 everyday objects from excavations in the Saxon city centers. With its formative influence on Saxon history,
mining is the focus of the exhibition theme on this floor. In a "treasure trove of written records", the Dresden State Archives, as a cooperation partner, is given a showcase for the presentation of its holdings, which are otherwise hidden in archives. The tour of the permanent archaeological exhibition ends in 1839 with the opening of the
railway line from Leipzig to Dresden. In the separate bay windows along the curved window front, there are further permanent exhibitions. On the first floor, the life and work of the architect
Erich Mendelsohn are presented using architectural models and documents. The second floor is dedicated to the history of the Schocken department store in Chemnitz, its importance for Saxony and its connections in the Jewish community. Department store co-founder
Salman Schocken, a passionate collector of Jewish books and
manuscripts, is presented on the third floor. A landscape model of Saxony, floating through all three floors of the permanent exhibition, is located in the middle of the building. The relief, which can be changed via
video projections, can dissolve into different regions of the country and reassemble. It shows different historical states of the country. On the ground floor, visitors can access individual information via an
interactive handrail. It is also possible to display information on the underside of the landscape sections using a mirror embedded in the floor. == History of the former Schocken department store ==