The Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft und Technik (or the Deutsches Museum Munich or the German Museum in English) is located on an island in the Isar River that runs through Munich’s city center. Dating back to 1903, it is one of the oldest and largest science and technology museums in the world and features an impressive collection of more than 28,000 historical artifacts from 50 fields of science and technology. Every year 1.5 million visitors explore the site.
The museum’s exhibits include natural sciences, materials and production, energy, communication, transportation, musical instruments, and new technologies. You can see the first electric dynamo, the first car, and the lab bench where the atom first split.
The collection of the German Museum is huge and can be a bit overwhelming if this is your first visit. It is recommended to focus only on certain parts of the museum rather than rushing and trying to see everything.
Good for kids
Your kids will love exploring this museum too. The museum offers a host of hands-on interactive exhibits, and there’s an entire section dedicated to curious kids. In “Kid’s Kingdom,” young explorers can sit behind the wheel of a real fire truck, fly in the air, or play a giant guitar, just to name a few of the 1000 activities for children at the German Museum in Munich.
Other places
In addition to the location on Munich’s Museumsinsel in the center, there is a Flugwerft Schleißheim branch 18 kilometers to the north. Its location is part of the attraction, as it is based on the facilities of one of the first military air bases in Germany. Items from its time as a base are still part of the site, such as the air command and control center.
Massive planes are also part of the appeal. This includes the Horten flying wing glider from the 1940s and a variety of Vietnam-era fighter jets. There are also some Russian planes from East Germany, recovered after reunification.
A section of the museum in Theresienhöhe was opened more recently and was called the Deutsches Museum Verkehrszentrum. It focuses on transportation technology.
There is also a branch of the museum in Bonn, opened in 1995. It focuses on German technology, science and research after 1945.
Visitor Information for the German Museum in Munich
Address: Museumsinsel 1, 80538 Munich
Phone : +49 (0) 89 / 2179-1
Fax : +49 (0) 89 / 2179-324
How to get there: you can take all the S-Bahn train lines in the direction of Isartor station; metro lines U1 and U2 to Fraunhofer Strasse; bus nr. 132 to Boschbrücke; tram nr. 16 to the Deutsches Museum, tram nr. 18 to Isartor
