Starting November 21, the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann invites visitors to its new special exhibition, “PLAYMOBIL – A Journey Through Time in Neanderthal.” The exhibition features highly detailed PLAYMOBILdioramas by artist Oliver Schaffer, which bring the history of the Neander Valley to life: from the Ice Age landscape and the world-famous site where Neanderthals were discovered, through the era of limestone quarries, to the popular 20th-century tourist destination. The exhibition combines archaeology, regional history, and family-friendly experiences, offering a fresh way to experience the Neandertal as a historical space of nature and memory.
A special focus of the special exhibition is on the culture of remembrance in the Neandertal. Residents have contributed personal photos, stories, and memories that show how formative the valley was as a recreational destination, especially from the 1940s to the 1960s. Restaurants, hotels, garden cafés, dance events, Sunday hikes, and family outings made the Neandertal a lively meeting place for people from Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, and the Ruhr region. Thus, “PLAYMOBIL – Time Travel Neandertal” tells not only of prehistory and Neanderthals, but also of lived everyday history in one of North Rhine-Westphalia’s most famous cultural landscapes.
Services
- Admission to the special exhibition "PLAYMOBIL – Journey Through Time in the Neander Valley" at the Neanderthal Museum
- Admission to the permanent exhibition at the Neanderthal Museum
- Admission to the “Höhlenblick” adventure tower
- Free audio guide and orientation map for the Neanderthal Experience World
- Option to participate in various guided tours and workshops (for an additional fee)
Another highlight
Outside the museum building, directly at the Neanderthal discovery site, guests will find the "Höhlenblick" observation tower, which is fully accessible. The 22-meter-high, open steel structure is crowned by a replica of the original skull, magnified fifty times. Virtual telescopes on the top platform allow guests to take a journey back to the Stone Age.
