Of the eight town gates and gateways that broke through the wall ring of the old town of Bernkastel, only the "Graacher Tor" still exists today. Since 1985 a museum of local history has been established in this only preserved city gate, which is extended and maintained by members of the Kolping Family Bernkastel St. Michael in 1856, with the support of the city of Bernkastel-Kues on their own initiative. The local history museum in the city centre provides information on Bernkastel's 700-year old history and development.
Valuable cultural-historical exhibits are on display in four rooms. Among them old views, maps, flags, coats of arms and sails, wooden sculptures,
Objects of the former Capuchin monastery, the depiction of a Bernkasteler merchant and sailor family, the biography of the Bernkastel-born church musician and composer Prof. Hermann Schroeder, the revolutionary flag of the Bernkasteler Bürgerwehr of 1848, and the medieval punishments of the former Bernkastel High Court. Interesting is an extensive collection of old photos about town views, town houses, floods, ice passages and fires as well as the history of the Bernkasteler clubs and associations.