Germany is undeniably a beautiful country blessed with wonders, sceneries, destinations, and exciting things to discover and experience. The museums in Germany were among the fascinating destinations to see and explore in this stunning country.
From Berlin, which is Germany’s capital, to Munich, Mainz, and other picturesque cities, fascinating museums were scattered, which can be found to see historical artifacts, behold art masterpieces, and learn more about Germany’s culture and history in these galleries.
The museums in Germany were the spots to check out and know more about Germany aside from witnessing the country’s beauty through its towns.
For history and art enthusiasts visiting such galleries will be fun and create a memorable trip in Germany also for tourist who seeks a great learning adventure in the country.
Best Museums in Germany to Visit
Deutsches Museum
Address: Museumsinsel 1, 80538 München, Germany
The Deutsches Museum (German Museum, officially Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft und Technik (English: German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology) is located in Munich, Germany.
It is the biggest museum of science and technology in the world. It features around 28,000 exhibited objects gathered from 50 areas of science and technology. This Museum welcomes over a million visitors yearly. The museum was launched on the 28th of June 1903 during a meeting of the Association of German Engineers (VDI).
Its founding was an initiative of Oskar von Miller. This Museum is presently the biggest in Munich. For a stretch of time, rock and pop concerts were held at the museum. Stars such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Elton John have all graced the Deutsches Museum.
The main location of the Deutsches Museum is on a little island on the Isar river. This river was used during Middle Ages in Middle Ages. Before 1772 and the construction of the Sylvensteinspeicher, the island contained no buildings due to the constant flooding.
The Isar barracks were constructed in 1773 on the island, and after the 1989 flooding incident, all the buildings were reconstructed with extra flood protection.
The city council of Frankfurt announced in 1903 that they would give out the island for the newly contracted Deutsches Museum. The island that used to be known as Kohleninsel (coal island) was then called Museumsinsel.
See Related: How to Find Cheap Flights to Germany
DDR Museum
Address: Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany
The DDR Museum is situated in the heart of Berlin, precisely in the old government region of East Germany, directly on the River Spree, opposite the renowned Berlin cathedral.
The museum is presently the 11th most visited in Berlin. The exhibition shows life in old East Germany ( in German, it is called the Deutsche Demokratische Republik or DDR) in a direct, realistic way. For instance, a hidden listening bug/device is given to visitors to provide a feeling of being “under surveillance.”
Visitors can also dress up in DDR clothes within the remade block tower apartment. They can make use of an original old typewriter or switch TV channels. The exhibition features three themed sections, namely: “Life in a Tower Block”, “Public Life”, and “State and Ideology”.
All the themed areas area showed critically, under both positive and negative lights. 35 modules in total showcase these 3 themes, including music, media, literature, fashion, borders, family, private niche, equality, health, diet, childhood, fashion, youth, partnership, construction, work, consumption, education, construction, free time, living, and vacation.
Also wall, brother states, Ministry for state security, authority, penal system, party, environment, ideology, and opposition. The DDR Museum began operations on July 15, 2006, as one of Germany’s renowned private museums. In 2008, it was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award.
Check out these other top museums in Berlin, Germany while you are in town.
See Related: Interesting Facts About Germany
Neues Museum
Address: Bodestraße 1-3, 10178 Berlin, Germany
The Neues Museum (New Museum) is located on the historic Museum Island right in the heart of Berlin’s historic center. It is also part of UNESCO’s world heritage centers. It was constructed from 1843 to 1855 under the order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Renaissance and Neoclassical Revival styles.
This building is regarded as one of the main works undertaken by Friedrich August Stüler. After the damage and decay wrought by World War II, this building was finally restored by David Chipperfield from 1999 to 2009.
Presently, the Neues Museum houses the Papyrussammlung, the Ägyptisches Museum, the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte as well as some parts of the Antikensammlung. The Neues Museum is the second museum to be erected on Museum Island.
It was meant to be a supplementary building to hold collections the Altes Museum could not carry. These collections included early historic and prehistoric collections (Museum der vaterländischen Altertümer), old Egyptian artifacts, a collection of drawings and prints (Kupferstichkabinett), and a collection of ethnographic.
Consequently, it is regarded as the “original source” of collections found in Berlin’s Egyptian Museum and the Ethnological Museum of Berlin. The exhibits contain prehistory, early history, and Egyptian collections like they had before the war broke out. The legendary Egyptian queen Nefertiti bust is part of the artifacts being housed here.
See Related: Best German Gifts
Neanderthal Museum
Address: Talstraße 300, 40822 Mettmann, Germany
The Neanderthal Museum is located in Mettmann, Germany. It is built right on the location of the first Neanderthal man discovery. Thus, it features a remarkable exhibit focused on the concept of human evolution. This Museum was built in 1996 following a design created by these architects – Arno Brandlhuber, Zamp Kelp and Julius Krauss.
Every year, about 170,000 visitors come to this Museum. There is an archaeological park right on the main discovery site, an art trail called “human traces and a Stone Age workshop. The audio guide and direction signs provided by the museum are in both English and German.
The garden area, which has been set up within the museum precinct to depict the museum valley, features numerous attractions along the titled paths, including the “Human traces” Art Trail. Additionally, close to the Game Reserve, wild horses and ‘Aurochs’ can be sighted.
The primary site of excavation where Neanderthal man fossils were found is near the museum. There is a collection of unique human fossil casts showcased by the museum, depicting the general hominid evolution and Neanderthal evolution.
This collection of casts was put together based on finds gotten from different excavated sites across the world. It was supported by donations from the Halbach Foundation and Alfred Krupp von Bohlen.
See Related: Things that will Shock you in Germany
House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany
Address: Willy-Brandt-Allee 14, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Haus der Geschichte (officially known in German as Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, i.e.. “House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany”) is a contemporary history museum situated in the Bonn area of Germany.
The museum receives about a million visitors per annum. It is known as one of the most commonly visited museums in Germany.
Like the “Zeitgeschichtliches Forum Leipzig,” the “Tränenpalast” am Bahnhof Friedrichstraße and the “Museum in the Kulturbrauerei,” the Haus der Geschichte is a member of the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland Foundation.
Bonn is the foundation’s primary area of business. The permanent exhibition in the Haus der Geschichte showcases Germany’s history spanning from 1945 till the current day.
Several temporary exhibitions focus on different unique historical features. In addition, the Haus der Geschichte sets up guided tours of the old Federal Assembly, the Palais Schaumburg, and the Chancellor’s bungalow. This renowned museum features a cartoon gallery containing over 75,000 political caricatures and cartoons.
The House of the History of the Federal Republic of Germany is part of the Museumsmeile (Museum Mile) in Bonn, which is part of the old West German government district. It is situated in the north of the Kunstmuseum Bonn and the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, which also comprises the Museumsmeile.
See Related: Germany Currency
German Museum of Technology
Address: Trebbiner Str. 9, 10963 Berlin, Germany
Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin or the German Museum of Technology) Is located in Berlin, Germany. This science and technology museum showcases a sizeable collection of technical, and historical artifacts. Originally, the museum focused on exhibits of rail transpiration.
However, it expanded its exhibition range to include several kinds of industrial technologies. In 2003, aviation and maritime exhibition halls were added to the museum in a freshly constructed extension. The museum also houses a science arena known as Spectrum.
The Museum für Verkehr und Technik (Museum of Technology and Traffic) was launched in 1982 and carried on the convention of the Königliches Verkehrs-und Bamuseum (Royal Museum of Traffic and Construction), which began operations in the old Hamburger Bahnhof station building in 1906.
The current German Museum of Technology is situated on the old freight yard that used to be part of the Anhalter Bahnhof in the Kreuzberg area of Berlin, including a couple of office buildings and two historic roundhouses.
In 1996, it was officially named Deutsches Technikmuseum, and the exhibition section was expanded gradually.
An additional new complex was officially opened in 2003, topped by an outstanding US Air Force Douglas C-47B “Raisin Bomber,” which can easily be sighted from above the Fernsehturm and previously at the Tempelhof Airport.
Presently, the other attractions in the museum are a Dutch windmill, a German windmill, a forge fuelled by a water wheel, and a brewery.
See Related: Best German Food to Try | Traditional Types of Food
Mercedes-Benz Museum
Address: Mercedesstraße 100, 70372 Stuttgart, Germany
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is a museum of automobiles located in Stuttgart, Germany. It presents the Mercedes-Benz brand history and the story of brands linked to this famous automobile manufacturer.
Stuttgart is where the international Daimler AG headquarters and the Mercedes-Benz brand are situated. The present building is right in front of the Daimler factory main gate in Stuggart, and UN studio is the brains behind the building design.
The structural design is a cloverleaf-based concept with three circles that overlap with a deliberately removed center that make up a triangular-shaped atrium. The Mercedes-Benz museum features over 160 vehicles, going as far back as the earliest motorcar engine days.
The vehicles in the museum are taken care of by the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center of Fellbach. The museum was formerly in a designated building in the factory complex area. In the past years, visitors were moved from the main gate area via a secured shuttle.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum offers visitors free audio tours in several different languages. In 2007, a record number of 860,000 people visited this historic museum. In addition to visiting the museum, tourists are offered a chance to tour the Untertürkheim engine factory close by, making most of the Mercedes Benz diesel engines.
See Related: Best things to Do in Stuttgart
Germanisches Nationalmuseum
Address: Kartäusergasse 1, 90402 Nürnberg, Germany
Founded in 1852, the Germanisches National Museum is a museum of cultural history located in Nuremberg, Germany. It is the largest cultural history museum located in Germany. As a museum of cultural history, the Germanisches National Museum investigates, collects, and stores art and artifacts from the entire German-speaking region.
The museum is also an important educational and research center as far as the history of the German-speaking region goes. The museum houses some 1.3 million exhibits, but of those exhibits, only about 25,000 are on display. The range of artifacts at the museum is quite expansive, with some artifacts dating as far back as pre-historic times.
The art collection at the museum is displayed in several sections such as folk art, middle ages, late middle ages, medicine and crafts, and so on.
The museum itself is an architectural masterpiece comprising several buildings built over the years. Beginning in 1857, when the King of Bavaria presented a Carthusian monastery to the museum’s founder, buildings have been consistently added to get the museum to where it is today.
The entrance to the museum is located on the Kartäusergasse, and Dani Karavan, an Israeli sculptor, today knows it as the Way of Human Rights after it transformed.
See Related: Things to Do in Nuremberg
Bode Museum
Address: Am Kupfergraben, 10117 Berlin, Germany
The Bode Museum is a museum located in the Mitte district in Berlin’s historic central area. The Bode Museum was founded in 1897 and initially began as a museum that was to be dedicated to art from the enlightenment period.
The museum was designed by Eberhard von Ihne and was originally named the Friedrich-Kaiser-Museum at its opening in 1904. It was eventually renamed the Bode Museum in 1956 after Wilhelm von Bode, who was the museum’s first art curator and the biggest influence on its philosophy of art.
The museum was heavily damaged during the Second World War, and it had to be shut down to undergo several renovations. In 2006, it was finally reopened to the public with a new face and a more expansive collection than the original founders envisaged.
Following the philosophy of Wilhelm von Bode, the museum is dedicated to the collection of disparate pieces of art. The two major collections at the museum are the Munkabinett and the Sculpture Collection and the Museum of Byzantine Art.
The Munzkabinett is a numismatic collection and is one of the most extensive collections of coins and medals worldwide. The sculpture museum houses a collection of sculptures, with some sculptures dating as far back as the middle ages.
See Related: Best Breweries in Berlin
Gutenberg Museum
Address: Liebfrauenpl. 5, 55116 Mainz, Germany
Located opposite the cathedral in the Old Mainz region of Mainz, Germany, the Gutenberg Museum is one of the world’s oldest printing museums. The museum regularly attracts tourists from all over the world, including historians, experts, hobbyists, etc.
The museum was founded in 1900 by a group of people who wanted to build a tribute to the legacy of the great Johannes Gutenberg, who invented a movable type of printing that totally revolutionized the printing industry.
The original collection at the museum was due to the generous donation of several publishers, manufacturers, and printing presses. Beginning with the books, equipment, artifacts, and machines donated, the museum has grown to have one of the most extensive catalogs of printing-related artifacts.
Some of the more famous artifacts at the museum include two of the original Gutenberg Bibles and the reproduction of Gutenberg’s workshop with exhibitions showing how printing was done then.
Visitors to the museum can take a personal, guided audio tour through the museum. The audio tour takes the visitor through the museum’s history up to the present day in several highlights. The tour can be taken in either German, French, or English.
See Related: Best Attractions in Mainz
Altes Museum
Address: Bodestraße 1-3, 10178 Berlin, Germany
Located in Berlin, Germany, the Altes Museum is one of the several State Museums located in Berlin. The museum was built over a five-year period from 1825 – 1840. The design for the building was done by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and executed on the orders of King Fredrick Wilhelm III of Prussia.
The building is a magnificent work of neoclassical architecture and is as famous as the art it houses. The architect carefully designed the museum building to fit in with the other magnificent buildings surrounding Lustgarten Park.
The Stadtchloss to the south, the Zeughaus to the west, the Berliner Dom to the east, and then the Altes Museum to the north.
The Altes Museum houses and displays a large collection of classical art from several places and periods in history. The artifacts include art from Greek, Roman, and Etruscan culture. The artifacts are arranged chronologically in the museum, beginning from as far back as the 10th century BC.
Over the years, the wonderful museum has had to undergo several makeovers and expansions. In the Second World War, a truck exploded outside the building, and it had to undergo extensive renovation before it would open to the public again.
See Related: Best Day Trips From Berlin
German Historical Museum
Address: Unter den Linden 2, 10117 Berlin, Germany
The German Historical Museum (Deutsches Historisches Museum in German) is a museum located in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The museum was founded in 1987 on the day of the 750th anniversary of Berlin.
The museum is considered a museum of German history but with an international perspective. The pieces at the museum reflect German history and Germany’s complex relationship with the countries around it and the world on a larger scale over the years. There are over 7000 unique pieces of art housed at the museum.
Collections range from documents and pictures to films, portraits, sculptures, weapons, and so on. The museum spans two buildings; the first is the Zeughaus or armory which is located on the Unter den Linden. The second building is the Exhibition Hall which was designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei.
Visitors to the museum can go through the chronological display of art at the Zeughaus, beginning from the middle ages right up to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The exhibits are also staggered to make the experience more interesting, and so you can find a sculpture standing next to a vacuum cleaner in the building.
See Related: Checkpoint Charlie: A Full History of this Berlin Landmark
German Spy Museum
Address: Leipziger Pl. 9, 10117 Berlin, Germany
The German Spy Museum is located in Berlin, Germany, close to the historic Potsdamer Platz. The museum – as its name suggests – is dedicated to collecting art from all over the world related to the history of espionage and spycraft.
It was founded in 2015 by Franz-Michael Gunther, and in September 2015 it was officially opened to the general public.
The museum is located in Berlin, which used to be the spy capital of Germany, and it is the only spy museum in all of the central parts of Europe. With over 1,000,000 visitors since its opening, the museum is one of the greatest tourist attractions in Germany.
With a catalog of over 1000 exhibits, equipment, and artifacts, the museum takes its visitors through several centuries of various tools, tricks, and espionage methods.
The artifacts at the museum focus on the two World Wars and the Cold War and the various espionage methods during that period. The museum also prides itself as an educational center.
There are screens all around the museum that immerses visitors in a unique experience detailing the history of espionage through several periods. The museum was nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award in 2020.
See Related: German Oktoberfest
Museum Ludwig
Address: Heinrich-Böll-Platz, 50667 Köln, Germany
The Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, is a museum of modern art with an extensive collection of art from some of the greatest artists of the modern era.
The museum was founded in 1976 when it broke out of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum and decided to chart its own path as an independent organization. The museum is one of Cologne’s biggest tourist attractions.
The first artwork at the newly formed museum was a collection of 350 artworks donated to the museum by Peter Ludwig. The museum is dedicated to the collection of contemporary art and its already burgeoning collection of modern art.
The museum’s art collection is divided into two somewhat distinct collections. The Sammlung Ludwig displays works from Russian avant-garde artists and American pop-art artists. With about 900 works from Picasso, the Sammlung Ludwig houses the third-largest collection of Picasso art in the world.
The Sammlung Haubrich houses art donated to the city of Cologne by Josef Haubrich featuring works from the period spanning 1914 to 1936. Haubrich’s donation was his personal collection of Expressionism art with artists such as Erich Heckel, August Macke, and Otto Mueller represented in the collection.
See Related: What to see in The Black Forest
German Tank Museum
Address: Hans-Krüger-Straße 33, 29633 Munster, Germany
The German Tank Museum (Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster in German) is a museum in Munster, Germany, dedicated to collecting and exhibiting armored fighting vehicles. The museum’s collection depicts the history of armored war vehicles.
Beginning from the creation of tanks in the 19th century to this day, weaponized vehicles have been an important part of the history and development of modern warfare. The museum was created in 1983 and covered an area of over 9,000 square feet.
The collection on display, while very varied, is largely made up of tanks given by the German Army (Bundeswehr) over the years. Other than the German tanks on display, there are tanks from the armies of the Soviet Union, the United States of America, Britain, and so on from the World War period.
There are also several tanks from the modern era, like the Merkava from Israel. The exhibits include the very first tank ever built by the Germans, the A7V, which was built for combat during World War I.
Along with the tanks on display are videos and other multimedia depicting the tanks in question and giving visitors new insight into how these tanks were built and operated.
See Related: Traditional German Christmas Foods
Aviation Museum Hannover-Laatzen
Address: Ulmer Str. 2, 30880 Laatzen, Germany
Covering over 3,500 square meters of space in Laatzen, the Aviation Museum Hannover-Laatzen is a museum dedicated to aviation history.
The museum was partly the work of entrepreneur and aviation enthusiast Gunther Leonhardt. Gunther had built a private aviation collection mostly comprised of Ju-52 aircraft he had recovered from a Norwegian lake after the end of World War 2.
In 1992, Gunther would somewhat move his collection over to the aviation museum, which at the time was located in the same building as the company he owned named Nelke.
The exhibits at the museum include over 30 aircraft engines, 800 aircraft models, and 38 airplanes displayed both inside the building and outside it. Documents, carriages, clothing worn by pilots, and other artifacts other than the aircraft can also be found at the museum.
Several historical developments in aviation can be found at the museum, with the most prominent perhaps being the Jumo 004A, which one of the first jet engines is ever made. The exhibits at the museum are arranged chronologically. Visitors can walk through the history of aviation from its earliest days down to modern developments.
See Related: Things to do in Konstanz
Museum at the Kulturbrauerei
Address: Knaackstraße 97, 10435 Berlin, Germany
The Museum at the Kulturbrauerei (German: Museum in der Kulturbrauerei) is a museum located in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin, Germany. Usually referred to as a museum of contemporary German history, the museum features a permanent exhibition about life in the German Democratic Republic from before Germany’s unification.
The museum is located in the building where the Schultheiss brewery used to operate out of. It was opened in 2012 to the public with the inaugural ‘Everyday life in GDR’ exhibition. Since the initial exhibition, the museum has continued to grow, adding several hundred of new artifacts to its collection in an effort to paint a more vivid picture of the GDR.
The exhibit takes visitors on an immersive journey into the reality of life under the communist government of the German Democratic Republic. The exhibition features a collection of audio files, videos, documents, and everyday objects from the GDR that help to shed light on the reality of life for the citizens of the GDR.
The museum also offers several educational programs like guided tours, workshops, and the curating of materials for people who would like to do a bit more research.
See Related: Best Things to Do in Aachen
German-Russian Museum
Address: Zwieseler Str. 4, 10318 Berlin, Germany
The German-Russian museum located in Berlin, Germany, is a unique museum dedicated to the history of German-Soviet and German-Russian relations. The museum focuses on the war between Germany and the then-Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945.
Although the particular focus of the museum is on the 1941-1945 period, the artifacts take visitors through German-Russian relations beginning as far back as 1917 to the 1999s. The museum has over 1000 square meters of exhibitions.
The museum site at Berlin-Karlhost is unique to German war history as it was the place wherein, in 1945, the German Armed Forces finally surrendered, thereby ending World War Two after six years of fighting. The museum was opened in 1995 on the 19th of May, exactly 50 years after the surrender of the Germans.
Right at the entrance of the museum is a Soviet T34 tank that was used during the war. Photographs, documents, and clothing are among the several artifacts on display at the museum. Mines, propaganda maps, military uniforms, medical equipment, military vehicles, and other exhibits bring the reality of life as a soldier during the war to life.
See Related: Best Things to Do in Hanover
Technik Museum Sinsheim
Address: Eberhard-Layher-Straße 1, 74889 Sinsheim, Germany
Located one hour south of the city of Frankfurt in Germany, the Technik Museum Sinsheim (Automobile and Technology Museum) is a museum dedicated to artifacts highlighting the history of technology over the years.
The Technik Museum Sinsheim is Europe’s biggest privately-owned museum. With over 1 million visitors to the museum every year, it is also one of Europe’s most visited museums.
The exhibits at the museum are mostly vehicles from various periods showing the development of the machines over the years. Motorcycles, sports cars, racing bikes, and steam locomotives can be found on the exhibition grounds, along with several other vehicles.
The exhibition area covers over 50,000 square meters and features over 3,000 exhibits on display. The museum also owns a 3D IMAX theatre where visitors can take an immersive journey through the history and technology of the automobiles on display.
Some major features at the museum include a Concorde aircraft donated to the museum by Air France. A permanent exhibit of Formula 1 racecar is the largest in Europe. There is also a walk-in Russian shuttle that was acquired in 2004 by the museum.
See Related: Famous Castles in Germany
BMW Museum
Address: Am Olympiapark 2, 80809 München, Germany
The BMW Museum, located in Munich, Germany, is an automobile museum dedicated to the history and development of the BMW brand. The museum first opened its doors to visitors in 1973. Its exhibition space covers over 5,000 square meters and features over 120 exhibits.
The exhibits follow the history of the BMW brand and include engines, vehicles, turbines, motorcycles, and so on. The permanent exhibition that features 125 unique cars, engines, and other artifacts significant in BMW’s history takes up most of the space.
Germany is a great hub for automakers and enthusiasts of the auto industry, and the BMW Museum is a great addition to the tourist attractions. The museum is one of the most visited museums in all of Germany. Since 2008 it has recorded an increasing number of visitors, seeing over five million visitors in that time.
The architectural design of the building is unique, and it blends in with the rest of the exhibition. The building is shaped like a bowl and is usually referred to as the salad bowl or the white cauldron. Karl Schwanzer oversaw the overall design of the building.
Related Resources