Germanisches Nationalmuseum

If you like museums, then Nuremberg is the place for you. Among Germany's large cities with a population of over half a million, it has the highest number of museums per capita in the country. There are currently 60 museums here.

One of the most important is the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. It has a collection of over 1.3 million objects, with 25,000 displayed in a unique architectural ensemble. This makes the Germanisches Nationalmuseum the largest museum of cultural history in the country. The exhibition ranges from prehistory and the ancient world to the art and culture of the second half of the 20th century.

The museum takes visitors on a journey through time: from stone-age hand axes and the Golden Cone ofEzelsdorf from the bronze age to medieval sculptures by the famous sculptors and carvers  Tilman Riemenschneider and Veit Stoss, as well as the Behaim Globe – the oldest remaining globe in the world. Also on show are Albrecht Dürer's portraits of emperors, Rembrandt's self-portrait and the felt suit of Joseph Beuys from 1971.

The architectural heart of the museum complex is based around a Carthusian monastery with preserved cloisters, along with the church and monks' dwellings. Outdoors, the museum is characterised by neo-gothic elements, the glass museum forum built in 1993, and the "Way of Human Rights" designed by Israeli sculptor Dani Karavan.

But the Germanisches Nationalmuseum is much more than just a museum. It also contains a historical archive, the German Art Archive with requested items from the world of visual arts, a coin cabinet and a graphic collection. The library is home to over 650,000 books on European art and cultural history, and is also open to museum visitors.

The museum also regularly hosts special exhibitions focusing on selected topics in art and cultural history from the German-speaking world.  For children's birthdays , the museum offers an exciting and varied programme of activities.

Information about prices, opening times and more can be found here.

What better way to follow good art than with good food? In the museum's own café, Café Arte, head chef Andreas Maierhofer serves up a small but fine selection of regional dishes at reasonable prices.  

Getting there:  Take the train to Nuremberg main station. From there, it's around an eight-minute walk to the museum. After leaving the main station entrance, turn left and head towards the opera house. Upon reaching it, turn right and walk another two minutes until you reach the museum.