Top 10 Specialty Museums in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Auf 1000 Quadratmetern gibt es viele lebensgroße Filmfiguren von Lara Croft, über Darth Maul bis zu Spiderman zu sehen, dazu Lego Modelle, Premium Format Figuren, Laserschwerter und vieles mehr. Jetzt ist auch unsere Hollywood-Ausstellung mit originalen Filmkostümen und Movie-Props eröffnet. Außerdem kann man galaktische Jedi- oder Superhelden Geburtstage bei uns feiern!

At first sight palatial redbrick facades and artistically adorned gables on buildings dotted around a grassy square are more reminiscent of an aristocratic residence than a coal mine. This was exactly one of the ideas behind the architecture. Today the “mansion of labour” in the west of Dortmund is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and impressive testimonies to Germany’s industrial history. The engine house with its famous Jugendstil doorway is already an icon. But the museum’s outstanding industrial architecture is only one of many different attractive facets. The various sections of the exhibition will take you into a world of harsh working conditions, and the stories of the men and women who worked in coalmining during the 20th century will bring this vividly to life.

The extraction, processing and utilization of mineral geo-resources, subsumed here under the term ‘mining’, is a subject with great significance for the development of human civilization. The global importance of mining is increasing today, and will no doubt continue to do so in future. This is clear from the political campaigns and the intense media reactions associated with issues of raw material supplies and shortages, and also resource conservation (recycling and the use of renewable energy sources). The work of the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, as the leading international museum on the mining industry, takes place within this socially relevant context. As one of the Leibniz Association’s research museums, the DBM is devoted to investigating the extraction, processing and utilization of mineral raw materials in the context of social, cultural, ecological and economic dynamics, spanning different historical periods. The museum shows the lasting impact which these processes have had on the development of society, and preserves relevant evidence for future generations. In short: The Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum is the cultural memory of the mining industry.

People began chipping out the first lumps of “black gold” from the hillsides of the Ruhrgebiet around 300 years ago. The Nightingale Colliery will take you back to the time when miners could walk straight inside the galleries to get at the coal; and later sunk the first shafts below ground. Equipped with a helmet and pit lamp visitors can take a walk down the narrow gangway of our mining gallery to a genuine coal streak and experience the unique atmosphere of early mining. One of the oldest hauling engines in the region can be seen in operation in the engine house.

More than 20,000 spindles once turned at the Herding Spinning Mill. Today, the imposing brick building is a forum for textile culture. Special exhibitions offer insights into the technology and show off fashion design and international textile art. Function rooms and a glass rooftop café provide space for events. In close proximity to this is another site, the Weaving Mill. In the huge weaving hall, the drive belts still set more than 30 historic machines in motion. Materials are produced here on a daily basis for the tea towels and tablecloths of our historic collection. In a worker‘s house, complete with cultivated garden, you can get to know the meagre everyday life of workers‘ families.

Tauchen Sie ein in das ländliche Leben der Vergangenheit! Ob der lippische Meierhof aus dem 16. Jahrhundert, das historische Fotoatelier von 1891 aus Rietberg oder die Tankstelle aus Siegen der 1960er-Jahre: Das LWL-Freilichtmuseum Detmold, das größte Frei-lichtmuseum Deutschlands, zeigt auf mehr als 90 Hektar grüner Kulturlandschaft und in rund 120 Fachwerkgebäuden 500 Jahre westfälische Alltagskultur. Auf verschiedenen Routen gibt es einiges zu entdecken. Schauen Sie in den aktiven Werkstätten dem Schmied, dem Bäcker oder dem Töpfer bei der Arbeit zu. Oder flanieren Sie durch die nach historischen Vorbildern angelegten Gärten. Für die Rast zwischen-durch freut sich die Museumsgastronomie auf Ihren Besuch.