Museum sights in Munich
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Deutsches Museum
If you’re one of those people for whom science is an unfathomable turn off, a visit to the Deutsches Museum might just show you that physics and engineering are more fun than you thought. Spending a few hours in this temple to technology is an eye-opening journey of discovery and the exhibitions and demonstrations will certainly be a hit with young minds.
There are tons of interactive displays (including glass blowing and paper-making), live demonstrations and experiments, model coal and salt mines, and engaging sections on cave paintings, geodesy, microelectronics and astronomy. In fact, it can be pretty overwhelming after a while, so it's best to prioritise what you…
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Münchner Stadtmuseum
Installed for the city's 850th birthday in 2008, the Typisch München (Typical Munich) exhibition at this unmissable museum tells Munich's story in an imaginative, uncluttered and engaging way. Taking up the whole of a rambling building, exhibits in each section represent something quintessential about the city; a booklet/audioguide relates the tale behind them, thus condensing a long and tangled history into easily digestible themes.
Set out in chronological order, the exhibition kicks off with the founding monks and ends in the post-war boom decades. The first of five sections, Old Munich, contains a scale model of the city in the late 16th century (one of five…
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Altes Rathaus
The eastern side of Marienplatz is dominated by the Altes Rathaus. Lightning got the better of the medieval original in 1460 and WWII bombs levelled its successor, so what you see is really the third incarnation of the building designed by Jörg von Halspach of Frauenkirche fame. On 9 November 1938 Joseph Goebbels gave a hate-filled speech here that launched the nationwide Kristallnacht pogroms.
Today it houses the adorable Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum) with its huge collection of rare and precious toys from throughout Europe and the US. Also, on the old town hall's south side you can pay your respects to Romeo's heart-throb Juliet, a beautiful bronze sculpture that was a…
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Paläontologisches Museum
The curatorial concept of the Paläontologisches Museum could use a little dusting up but otherwise this archaeological trove of prehistoric skulls and bones is anything but stuffy. The most famous resident is a fossilised archaeopteryx, the creature that forms the evolutionary link between reptile and bird.
Jurassic fans can check out the wicked horns on a triceratops skull or the delicate bone structure of a plateosaurus. What better place to bring the kids when they're passing through their 'dinosaur phase'?
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Kurfürstenzimmer
Upstairs and only accessible in the morning are the Kurfürstenzimmer (Elector's Rooms) with some stunning Italian portraits and a passage lined with two dozen views of Italy, painted by local romantic artist Carl Rottmann.
Also up here, and accessible all day, are François Cuvilliés' Reiche Zimmer (Rich Rooms), a six-room extravaganza of exuberant rococo carried out by the top stucco and fresco artists of the day; they're a definite museum highlight.
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BMW Museum
Redesigned from scratch and reopened in 2008, the BMW Museum is like no other car museum on the planet. The seven themed 'houses' examine the development of BMW's product line and include sections on motorcycles and motor racing. However, the interior design of this truly unique building, with its curvy retro feel, futuristic bridges, squares and huge backlit wall screens, almost upstages the exhibits.
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Stadtmuseum
To mark the city's 850th birthday in 2008, the Stadtmuseum restructured its collections to create the 'Typisch München' (Typically Munich) exhibition. This condenses Munich's tangled past into five easily digestible periods, with a chronological walking route leading through the rambling building. Exhibits in each section represent what is most typical for the time, and explain why.
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Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde
A bonanza of art and objects from Africa, India, the Americas, the Middle East and Polynesia, the State Museum of Ethnology has one of the most prestigious and complete ethnological collections anywhere. Sculpture from West and Central Africa is particularly impressive, as are Peruvian ceramics, Indian jewellery, mummy parts, and artefacts from the days of Captain Cook.
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Verkehrszentrum
Sheltered in an historic trade fair complex, the Verkehrszentrum features some fascinating exhibits, with hands-on displays about pioneering research and famous inventions, plus cars, boats and trains, and the history of car racing. Another section shows off the Deutsche Museum's entire vehicle collection, ranging from the first motorcars to high-speed ICE trains.
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Deutsches Jagd- und Fischereimuseum
Pose with a bronze boar, admire a rococo hunting sledge or examine prehistoric fishing tackle at the old-school Deutsches Jagd und Fischereimuseum, spread across three floors of a former Augustinian church. There are plenty of stuffed critters and dioramas alongside trophies, weapons, paintings and porcelain embellished with hunting motifs. Creepy or captivating? Up to you.
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Schatzkammer der Residenz
The Residenzmuseum entrance also leads to the Schatzkammer der Residenz, a veritable banker's bonus worth of jewel-encrusted bling of yesteryear, from golden toothpicks to finely crafted swords, miniatures in ivory to gold entombed cosmetics trunks. The 1250 incredibly intricate and attractive items on display come in every precious material you could imagine, including rhino horn, lapis lazuli, crystal, coral and amber.
Definite highlights are the Bavarian crown insignia and the ruby-and-diamond–encrusted jewellery of Queen Therese.
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Archäologische Staatssammlung
Turns out Bavaria has been a popular place of residence for 120,000 years. Prehistoric Stone Age people came first, then the Romans, the Celts and finally various Germanic tribes. The Archäologische Staatssammlung opens up a window on these long-gone civilisations with cult objects, floor mosaics, jewellery, medical equipment and scores of other items.
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KinderReich
Many museums have special kid-oriented programs, but the highly interactive KinderReich specifically lures the single-digit set. Here tots ages three to eight can climb all over a fire engine, build things with giant Lego, construct a waterway with canals and locks, or bang on the drum all day in a - thankfully - soundproof instrument room.
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Puppentheater-Museum
The upper floors of the Münchner Stadtmuseum house the speciality collections. A delightful diversion, not only for tots, is the Puppentheater-Museum, a fantasy world inhabited by an international cast of hand puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, stick figures and all manner of dolls, dragons and devils. Call for upcoming shows.
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Rock Museum
At the Olympiaturm, your lift ticket also buys access to the small if quirky Rock Museum. Ozzie Osbourne's signed guitar, a poem penned by Jim Morrison and Britney Spears' glitter jeans jostle for space with letters, photos and concert tickets, all the result of three decades of collecting by a pair of rock fans.
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Bier & Oktoberfestmuseum
Head to this popular museum to learn all about Bavarian suds and the world's most famous booze-up. The four floors heave with old brewing vats, historic photos and some of the earliest Oktoberfest regalia. The 14th-century building has some fine medieval features, including painted ceilings and a kitchen with an open fire. There's an earthy pub downstairs (evenings only).
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Nibelungensäle
Even without a ticket to the Residenzmuseum, you're free to visit the Nibelungensäle (Halls of the Nibelungs) off the Königsbauhof courtyard to marvel at an exhibit depicting the near total destruction of the Residenz in WWII and the miraculous restoration in subsequent decades.
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Internationale Jugendbibliothek
Internationale Jugendbibliothek, a unique research and lending library with about half a million children's books in 130 languages. It has reading rooms, runs exhibits and activities and also has a small museum dedicated to Michael Ende, author of Neverending Story.
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Marstall-Museum
Also in the main building of the palace, the Marstall- museum displays royal coaches and riding gear (including Ludwig II's over-the-top sleigh) on ground level, and a collection of porcelain from the legendary Nymphenburger Manufaktur on the 1st floor.
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Residenzmuseum
Home to Bavaria's Wittelsbach rulers from 1508 until WWI, the Residenz is Munich's number one attraction. The amazing treasures, as well as all the trappings of their lifestyles over the centuries, are on display at the Residenzmuseum, which takes up around half of the palace. Allow at least two hours to see everything at a gallop.
Tours are in the company of a rather long-winded audioguide (free), and gone are the days when the building was divided into morning and afternoon sections, all of which means a lot of ground to cover in one go. It's worth fast forwarding a bit to where the prescribed route splits into short and long tours, taking the long route for the most…
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Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
Picture the classic 19th-century museum, a palatial neo-Classical edifice overflowing with exotic treasure and thought-provoking works of art, a repository of a nation’s history, a grand purpose built display case for royal trinkets, Church baubles and state-owned rarities – this is the Bavarian National Museum, a good old-fashioned museum for no-nonsense museum lovers.
Filling 40 rooms over three floors, there’s a lot to get through so be prepared for at least two hours’ legwork.
Most start on the 1st floor where hall after hall is packed with baroque, mannerist and Renaissance sculpture, ecclesiastic treasures (check out all those wobbly Gothic ‘S’ figures),…
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Musikinstrumenten-Museum
The Musikinstrumenten-Museum is packed with fun, precious and rare sound machines from around the world, including Indonesian ceremonial gongs and mechanical musical instruments. Some of them are cranked up regularly during concerts.
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Schönheitengalerie
The most famous room in the Schloss Nymphenburg is the Schönheitengalerie (Gallery of Beauties), in the southern wing, a portrait gallery of 38 'beauties' from all walks of life and parts of the world hand-selected by Ludwig I.
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Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst
This old-school museum of late 19th-century Egyptian finds was closed at the time of research, but due to reopen in a purpose-built structure at Gabelsbergerstrasse 35 (near the Alte Pinakothek) in the summer of 2013.
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Museum Reich der Kristalle
If diamonds are your best friends, head to the Museum Reich der Kristalle, with its Fort Knox–worthy collection of gemstones and crystals, including a giant Russian emerald and meteorite fragments from Kansas.
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