"The largest museum of its kind in the country, the German National Museum explores the country’s history through a heady mix of art, science, technology, and culture. Founded in 1852 by Franconian merchant Hans Philipp Werner, Freiherr von und zu Aufsess, it boasts 26 different sections and over 1.3 million objects, with more than 20,000 on display at any one time. The highlights are too numerous to list, but range from Paleolithic hand axes and the first pocket watch in the world to portraits by Albrecht Dürer and exhibitions on the Bauhaus movement. The museum also has several archives, a numismatic collection, a Department of Prints and Drawings that deals with graphic arts, and the largest collection of historical musical instruments in Europe. For even more, visit the affiliated Kaiserburg Museum, which includes weapons, suits of armor, archaeological items, and more relating to the Middle Ages."
This is an impressive collection in an enormous complex of buildings. We had only 2 hours, which was not enough time. I would allow 3-4 hours to not feel rushed. It's a great place to find respite from the heat and see historical artifacts from early man, medieval to modern art, and even a chapel.
Matthew Chalfant
Google
Top quality museum. The family tickets are a great value for any family. The museum has a lot of things on display and is well laid out. Complete with free lockers for coats and bags. Great thing to do in Nuremberg
Dave Taylor
Google
A great way to lose a morning, or afternoon, or a day. There's so much to see, even if some rooms/exhibitions were closed. It has a decent cafe too. Great value for €10.
Evgeniia
Google
Amazing, big and beautiful museum!!! One of the best I've ever visited. Lots of expositions, museum is connected to a previously church which creates a unique ambience. There is a cafe as well, WC, book shop
Mary-Ann van der Linden
Google
There were a lot of different things to see, including magnificent artifacts like the oldest surviving globe. Definitely plan out an entire morning or afternoon for this to see everything. There is also a cafe and restaurant in the building, and a nice gift shop. I had some trouble getting around the museum as the groundplan was a bit confusing to me and some areas were under construction so you had to take other routes to see everything.
Frederic Lecut
Google
Great place for bronze and iron ages prehistory in general and the #celts in particular.
Brad
Google
The German National Museum in Nuremburg is located between Kornmarkt and Frauentormauer. There is a very helpful museum map available which greatly assists in planning visit if time is limited. We found the permanent collection to be laid out well but given the scale of things to see, the map was quite useful in helping manage our way through the entire museum.
We found numerous interesting things to see, known more so than Martin Behaim's Globe, the oldest surviving globe in the world dating to the late 15th century. Overall, we really enjoyed Germanisches Nationalmuseum and will gladly revisit the next time we are in Nuremburg.
Аліна Аліна
Google
Planning a visit to this museum, feel free to set a whole day for it. There is so much interesting points here, so you obviously would like to look at every exhibit. A big plus is the audio guide via QR code!
David H.
Yelp
Enjoyed my visit here. As in many German cities, most of the town bears to the markings of post-war reconstruction owing to the bombing raids of the Royal Air Force and US Army Air Force. This museum only retains one of its old gates. The rest is newly built over several decades. They even integrated a church in the museum. This makes for tough navigation (just as one of the attendants for directions to specific exhibits), but also contains the different eras to different buildings and atmospheres. Gotta love Germany: the museum offers a family ticket that afforded us acces for about 10 euros. Cool works allround make this museum a pleasant place to check when in Nürnberg.
David J.
Yelp
A slightly surprising find in Nuremberg is this museum of national importance: an expansive collection of German art, culture and history from the Neolithic to the present.
If you want to understand the complex cultural history of Germany prior to its political unification in the 19th Century, this is the place to come. Set aside at least half a day to do it justice.
The museum itself has its origins in the growing sense of pan-German identity in the mid 19th Century, around the time the forces of unification were in the ascendent. Some of these elements (such as frescoes and stained glass) were rather Wagnerian in their somewhat romantic appropriation of German history, though much was destroyed in the 1945 bombing. (The curation is very honest in explaining how it differs from modern understanding of German culture.)
The building itself is very modern, but incorporates much of a previous convent - an excellent setting for some of the religious works.
It's hard to cover the scope of the collection here, but it starts with grave goods, arms and jewellery from the Neolithic to the period up to the Roman invasions in the first century BC.
There is then a huge (and I mean huge) collection of devotional Christian art from the Frankish period right up to the 18th Century: this includes sculpture and metalwork, but above all, a vast collection of religious paintings, the highlight of which is a collection of works by Albrecht Dürer.
This is all supplemented by galleries on domestic objects, costume, scientific instruments and the secular decorative arts; and world-class collections of musical instruments, early mediaeval tapestry and mediaeval armour. It includes the first ever globe of the world (contemporary with Christopher Columbus - so it misses out the Americas!); and a self-portrait by Rembrandt.
The displays are for the most part in English and German, but audio guides are also available. There's a lot of emphasis on level access but it's worth checking access to some of the galleries. The museum has a complex and rather sprawling layout, and we walked just shy of two miles around the exhibits in four hours.
Afterwards, there's an excellent cafe to rest your feet (you'll need it) and a very educational gift shop.
Marshall G.
Yelp
On Wednesday's , 6-9pm, admission is free. So, after a day of touring we came here to top it off. We went to the second floor, for the period art and
Paintings. German and English translations. Many discovery's to us, including a Rembrandt re-discovered in 1988. Self portrait, as a young
Artist. Special night.
Darren B.
Yelp
I love museums, but this one is over the top. Not the best art collection by European standards (it ain't the Louvre), but a fine collection of German art. It's strikingly dissimilar to Italian art; more earthy and stylized, but gorgeous.
BUT the best part is the music hall. It's tricky to get to, but worth the price of admission. I'm a musician (brass), so to see pousane and crumhorns and natural and keyed trumpets was like Nirvana (the state of mind, not the group). There were a hundred keyboard instruments as far back as the 16th century. I was blown away.
You need a half day twice - after a half day your brain explodes and you need a break.
Brandon B.
Yelp
We only had a short time in Nuremburg but this sounded like the best bet to explore given proximity to our hotel and the fact we had not gone to a major German history museum during our long drive. This place is incredible, you could spend a couple days alone exploring it! Many rooms exploring all eras of history, it feels like many buildings in one (which it is). We spent more than our allotted time since just couldn't help it. We were so drawn in to the history and amazing crafts of times past.
Alex M.
Yelp
Great museum, a must to in Nuremberg, almost translated in English, great architecture, quite coffee-shop, great bookshop. Don't miss Dani Karavan "Human Rights" work in front the museum.
Lakesha J.
Yelp
If you are in Nuremberg, you must go to this museum. The building is so beautiful and huge. It shows you a history of Germany. I love the modern art. It had a lot of historical items. The cafe was fantastic. For the English speaking folks, they do have English translation.
Bob C.
Yelp
The German National Museum in Nuremberg has an amazing collection of artifacts from German history spanning from Celtic and Roman times to the 19th century. Roman legionary helmet? We have that. Gold Celtic conical hat? We have that, too. Midieval armor for man and horse? Weapons? Antique musical instruments? Religious art? Painting by Durer? We have that, too.
Part of the museum encompasses the remnants of a Carthusian Church and Monastery, with incredible religious art, including a statue of St Michael the Archangel and an amazing triptych mounted above the altar.
As an example, there was an special exhibit on contemporaries Columbus and Luther and their changing world drawn from the museum's collections that encompasses discoveries in medicine and geography. In another section of the museum, there are also furnished rooms from houses of the 16th and 17th centuries. And there's a huge furniture collection and another of German folk art.
Truly an amazing place.