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1.836 places · 4.673 museums
For most of its history Germany was a patchwork of kingdoms, duchies and free cities – and every capital built its own collection. That is why you find world-class museums not only in Berlin and Munich, but in Dresden, Kassel, Stuttgart, Braunschweig and hundreds of small towns.
Germany first became one country in 1871, and again in 1990 after forty years of division. Before that, princes in Dresden, Munich, Kassel and Berlin competed for the finest paintings, porcelain and treasures, and many of their palaces are museums today. Look for three words: Landesmuseum (the museum of the state), Stadtmuseum (the town museum) and Heimatmuseum (a small local museum, often run by volunteers). Berlin alone has around 170 museums, and its Museum Island is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Germany also faces its darkest years openly: memorials and documentation centres are part of almost every city. And the food changes every hundred kilometres – from Bavarian pretzels and white sausages to Hamburg fish rolls, Black Forest cake and Saxon Stollen. Every season has its festival too: carnival in the Rhineland, beer and wine festivals in autumn, and Christmas markets in every town square in December.
From Roman frontier towns to the fall of the Wall, follow Germany through its museums.
Cologne, Trier and Mainz begin as Roman towns. In Trier the huge Porta Nigra gate still stands, and the museums are full of Roman mosaics, coins and tombstones.
See it at: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier →Charlemagne is crowned emperor in 800 and is buried in Aachen. Over the next centuries cathedrals rise in Cologne, Speyer and Bamberg, and their treasuries keep gold, ivory and painted manuscripts.
See it at: Aachen Cathedral TreasuryIn Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg prints with movable metal letters. His Bible changes how knowledge travels across Europe.
See it at: Gutenberg Museum, Mainz →In Wittenberg, Martin Luther publishes his 95 theses in 1517. A century later the Thirty Years' War destroys towns and villages across the land.
See it at: Luther House, WittenbergAugustus the Strong fills Dresden with treasures and in 1710 starts Europe's first porcelain factory in Meissen. In Potsdam, Frederick the Great builds his summer palace Sanssouci.
See it at: Green Vault, DresdenGoethe and Schiller write in Weimar, Beethoven is born in Bonn, and coal and steel turn the Ruhr into an industrial heartland. In 1871 Germany becomes one empire.
See it at: Beethoven House, BonnGermany loses the First World War. The Nazi dictatorship leads to the Second World War and the murder of six million Jews. Memorials and documentation centres tell this history across the country.
See it at: Topography of Terror, BerlinGermany is split into East and West, and from 1961 a wall runs through Berlin. On 9 November 1989 the Wall falls, and in October 1990 the country is one again.
See it at: Berlin Wall MemorialMany German museums close on Monday. Check the opening days before you travel, especially in small towns.
Berlin, Munich and other cities have museum passes that save money when you visit several museums in a few days. Ask at the tourist office.
Regional trains reach almost every museum town. The Deutschland-Ticket covers local trains, buses and trams across the whole country.
Cards are accepted more and more, but small museums, bakeries and market stalls sometimes only take cash.
On museumtickets.com: 4.673 museums with photos, the way there and the museums nearby. Save your favourites in the free Culture Passport and, where the museum offers it, pay your admission in advance.
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★ Has its own city story
From the airport to the city centre by public transport, then the trains and local lines to the museums.
Lines and timetables change. Check the operator’s website before you travel.
