Located in the heart of the old town, the Film Museum of the state capital Düsseldorf was founded in 1993. As an interactive museum, it provides exciting access to the world of film from its earliest beginnings to the present day.
The permanent exhibition covers 2200 square meters of living film history and presents a selection of rare technical equipment, especially from the pre- and early history of cinematography. Camera obscuras from the 1880s, film projectors and cameras from the early 20th century to the present day, set models, decorations, props and costumes can all be admired. Visitors also learn about and understand production processes and the influence of film on our lives.
In addition to its permanent exhibition, the Film Museum also has an extensive archive, a library and an in-house cinema with daily film events. It houses one of only three surviving Welte cinema organs (built in 1929), which is regularly used for silent film screenings.
Schools and other educational institutions from all over the country take part in the film and media education programs, guided tours, seminars and workshops. The Filmmuseum Düsseldorf develops and presents film and media-related special exhibitions with German and international partners.
The museum's collections include around 500,000 photos, well over 40,000 posters, press releases, newspaper clippings, reviews, film programs as well as scripts/dialogue lists for domestic and foreign films and production documents. The collection also includes the estates of Lotte Reiniger, Helmut Käutner, Wolfgang Staudte, Harry Piel and Liesl Karlstadt. Another special feature is the shadow puppet collection, which contains around 500 shadow puppets from the 13th to 19th century on the history of shadow puppetry, as well as props, accessories and a shadow puppet stage.
As the only film museum in North Rhine-Westphalia, it also houses the state's film collection. Over 20,000 film copies are stored in the film archive, in addition to around 25,000 DVDs, Blu-rays and videos. The library's media collection includes 60,000 titles. Books and magazines can be viewed by prior appointment.
