The DB Museum covers the history of railways in Germany from their beginnings in 1835 to the…read morepresent day: from industrialisation, through the unification of Germany in the 19th Century, their role in two World Wars (including their use in Nazi propaganda), the separation into East and West Germany and their subsequent restoration as a single enterprise once more. The museum has over a dozen locomotives, including Adler, which pulled the first train between Nuremberg and Fürth in 1835, to modern ICE trains. Highlights include the absurdly baroque carriages built for King Ludwig II of Bavaria, alongside Bismarck's more functional equivalent. The museum has a particularly large collection of railway models (of all sizes), and on the first floor is large model layout that springs into life every hour. (Not to be missed.) There's a special section for children with lots of interactive exhibits, but they'll love the model railway and the full sized locomotives as well. The museum has a small shop and a cafe at the entrance. There's an audio guide for those who don't speak German: most of the interpretations aren't translated (though the headlines for each section are provided in English as well).

I spent 6.6 hrs in this collection. So many rail related museums have so few artifacts and photos…read moredisplayed; this one makes it a point to reverse this trend. There really is much history to tell here including the painful. Glad I included this museum on this trip.

Enjoyed my visit here. As in many German cities, most of the town bears to the markings of post-war…read morereconstruction 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.

A slightly surprising find in Nuremberg is this museum of national importance: an expansive…read morecollection 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.

"I shall call it....'Blue'" - "Why?" - "Because I feel like it."…read more The one thing that I love about art museums: you don't have to understand everything! You can just look at a painting or sculpture and think "What the hell?" and perhaps you might have reacted exactly how the artist wanted you to react...or perhaps not! You'll probably never know! And that's the beauty of this place - there are so many different pieces of art, some part of a bigger art work, some separate from the rest - you can just look at them and take it all in, there's no one expecting a certain reaction from you! Usually I am not a big fan of modern art work, it just doesn't "speak" to me and I am constantly thinking "Oh I could SO do that myself!" - you know, those "red line on white background" paintings etc. But not here! There are some lovely paintings here at the moment, some of which I would love to buy straight away (I forgot the name, darn it!), others are more...bizarre ;) The building itself is a fantastic modern piece of architecture - one entire side is made out of glass, so you can watch the people walk around inside from the outside. A tad annoying: There are plenty of security personnel walking around, always keeping an eye on you! I understand that a lot of the art work is not bound to paintings and shouldn't be touched, but it is a bit annoying if you're trying to concentrate on a piece of art, letting it all sink in...and you constantly have the feeling of someone watching you! My advice: Come here on a Sunday, the entrance fee is only 1€ then (only for the permanent exhibitions, not the temporary ones) - you don't even have to stay that long, we walked through in about 30 minutes, but it was still a great experience and I will be back soon (if only to find out the name of that one painting!). Bottom line: * Lovely piece of architecture * Fabulous art work, paintings, sculptures etc. * The perfect place if you want to relax your mind for a while on a Sunday afternoon * Only 1€ entrance fee on Sundays

Very nice museum. Some interesting pieces of art. Nicely planed interior. 2 floors of modern art,…read moreincluding some design pieces from Czech Republic, USA, Germany.