The 10 Best Specialty Museums in Middle Franconia, Bavaria

In the Amber Museum Nuremberg, visitors experience a fascinating world of amber: an extensive collection of amber, amber jewelry, amber with insects and plants included. Exhibits that were passionately collected by the museum founders for more than 30 years. In the attached Amber Shop, guests can choose from a wide range of amber pieces.

Nuremberg has been a city of toys since the Middle Ages. With an abundance of extraordinary exhibits from antiquity to the present, Nuremberg's world famous Toy Museum presents the "world in miniature" in 1,400 square meters of space, featuring dolls, shops, tin figures and tin toys, wooden toys and a large model train set (Track S), as well as more recent toys, such as Lego, Barbie, Playmobil, and Matchbox. The imaginatively designed children's area in the attic is staffed with trained educational personnel. Summer attractions include a large outdoor playground and a museum cafe in the secluded inner courtyard. There are audio guides tailored for adults and children to escort you through the museum, and also a droll photographic treasure hunt.

Having opened its doors in 1882, the DB Museum is now the world's oldest museum devoted to the railways. Its main building is located in Nuremberg, and it also has two other branches - one in Koblenz and the other in Halle an der Saale. Property of the Deutsche Bahn Foundation, the Nuremberg building may be old, but it is nothing if not modern, as its collections and exhibitions have been completely overhauled in recent years. The heart of the Nuremberg exhibition is a panoramic sweep of rail history in Germany from its humble beginnings around 1800 up to the present day, and even taking a look at what the future may have in store. Covering a total space of 6,800 m², it takes a different approach to most railway museums in that the history of train technology is just one aspect among many others. All of them are woven together to tell a much larger story. Scores of objects, from original locomotives to old advertising signs, are given their own interactive settings and vividly bring this tale to life. The original vehicles at the museum are another major draw for visitors. Some 40 rail legends are on show in two halls. They include the oldest surviving passenger coach in Germany, a replica of the country's first steam locomotive, the Adler, and a model of the ICE 4, the next generation of high-speed train. The museum's external exhibition space covers some 15,000 m² and includes a vintage train platform, interactive signal box and a display depot containing train-related treasures from the museum's various collections. Younger visitors can look forward to KIBALA, a railway paradise created specially for children to experiment and play with. It's got lots of buttons that need pressing, a train simulator and a miniature railway that shunts our little visitors around the entire exhibition grounds. The museum hosts different special exhibitions dedicated to specific topics, and its programme of events also includes a wide range of concerts, talks and celebrations that ensure there's never a dull moment at Lessingstrasse 6.

A former screw factory from the 1920s currently houses the museum, which showcases the history of industrialization in Nuremberg, from the 19th century to the present-day structural change. Work and private life from that time is made real again, turning exhibition pieces into players and visitors into discoverers. Young and old can watch the exciting demonstration in the historic pencil making workshop and even try their hand at printing in the print shop. In learning laboratories, young visitors can research and experiment to their hearts' content and try out computer games of yesterday and today. The motorcycle collection brings Nuremberg’s Golden Age of two-wheeler production to life.

The Nazis chose Nuremberg to be the site of the Nazi Party Rallies. The still unfinished Congress Hall on the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds now houses the Documentation Center. The 1,300 square meter "Fascination and Terror" exhibition examines the causes, context and consequences of Nazi tyranny. The museum focuses on the history of the Nazi party rallies, which served as powerful mass events to promote Nazi propaganda and set the stage for the "people's community". The educational forum offers numerous programs for all age groups on a variety of topics. Information boards on the Nazi Party Rally Grounds, which cover 4 square kilometers, explain the history of the site.

Merchant's House, Patrician's Palatial Residence, Map Publishers – built between 1591 and 1596, Fembo's House has seen many uses. Since 1953, Nuremberg's only remaining large merchant's house from the Late Renaissance – situated partway to the Imperial Castle – serves as a municipal museum and takes visitors on a trip through the city's eventful past. More than 950 years of history come alive through valuable original rooms, room staging and audio presentations – from the city's first documentary mention in 1050 up to today. For guests in a hurry: Around the superb reproductions of the Imperial Regalia the exhibition space "A Crown – Power – History" presents the main chapters of Nuremberg's history via media guide in only 30 minutes and in any of 9 languages.