
Many popular museums take visitors on a journey through the centuries or millennia. Industrial history, development history and cultural history play a role at these establishments. Sometimes the focus is on popular sports, sometimes on evolution or the transformation of a people. Hobby historians become explorers of prehistory or specialists in the advancement of a branch of industry. In the lively historical spaces, visitors can imagine they are Roman legionnaires, Neanderthals or top athletes. Amusing entertainment is as guaranteed as learning on excursions and guided tours.

German Mining Museum in Bochum
The biggest mining museum in the world impressively demonstrates that no other industry is as closely associated with the Ruhr District as mining. Visitors can experience up close what it was like to be a miner underground. The show pit, four exhibition tours and a large winding tower can be viewed.

Chocolate Museum Cologne
Colognes museum not only offers history, but also delicious samples of the popular sweet. 200 kilogramme chocolate constantly flows in the three metre high fountain for you to taste. At chocolate-praline classes there are no limits to the imagination.

German Football Museum Dortmund
Here, there’s more than just titles, goals and triumphs on display. The museum is dedicated to the less appealing aspects of football as well as those that promoting understanding between nations.

Ruhr Museum at the Zollverein World Heritage Site in Essen
The Ruhr Museum at the former coal mine offer a unique complete production on the history of the Ruhr District. The permanent exhibition shows the developments over time based on 6,000 exhibits. In particular, mining and its origins in what is now an industrial region are vividly discussed.

Red Dot Design Museum at the Zollverein World Heritage Site in Essen
The Red Dot Design Museum presents stylishly and practically designed objects that have won the award over several decades. The backdrop of the old coal mine provides a unique contrast between old industrial machines and innovative products. The cultural centre has over 2,000 objects in its collection.

Haus der Geschichte in Bonn
Adenauer’s Mercedes, a cinema from the 1950s and a railway car – the Bonn museum makes German history an experience. The institute addresses contemporary topics in one area of the permanent exhibition. Visitors can learn more about globalisation, migration and digitalisation.

Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann
How did Neanderthals live in NRW? Which tools did they produce? And what did they eat? The Neanderthal museum gives answers to these questions. Human development is the centre of the permanent exhibition of this house.

German Sports & Olympics Museum Cologne
Important races, unforgettable matches and famous persons play a huge role in the permanent exhibition of the German Sports & Olympics Museum. The facility offers an historical overview from antiquity to modern times. Over 2,000 square metres of space, visitors can see unusual exhibits ranging from bobsleighs to baseball gloves.

LVR Roman Museum in Xanten
Archaeological finds bear witness to the lives of Roman citizens and legionnaires. In buildings that are true to the originals, history is turned into an experience for everyone. Visitors can find out about trade routes, important military bases and reigning powers in the region.

Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne
The only museum in North Rhine-Westphalia entirely dedicated to ethnology presents the peoples of the world and their customs and characteristics. It helps to be able to imagine yourself in other worlds. The holdings of 65,000 exhibits include an enormous Indonesian rice store from the island of Sulawesi as well as many items of clothing and art and cultural objects.