Museums in Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany (D)

This former savings bank is in fact five museums under one roof and displays everything from Roman coins to furniture showing how people used to live and an art gallery presenting works from the 18th and 19th centuries including Carl Spitzweg and, Casper David Friedrich and Max Liebermann.

Guided tours of the exhibition can also be booked, either of the museum as a whole or on specific themes such as on the history of Dortmund or aspects of rural life. These are also available in English for an additional fee on top of the tour fee or if you would prefer to go around the museum on your own however, then you can use the free German and English audio guide.

This museum is located in a former Gestapo prison at the north exit from the central station and serves as a memorial to those victims that passed through its doors. Here you will find a permanent exhibition `Resistance and Persecution 1933-1945´ that has been organized by the city archives, together with temporary exhibitions that take place at regular intervals.

If you´re taste in art is more that of the 20th and 21st centuries, then the Museum Ostwall (MO) is the place to go for you. Here you will find everything from the modern stream of art known as fluxus to expressionist art and contemporary photo and video exhibitions; much in fact, that combines art with life. Do not be surprised if you should here strange noises when you approach the building either, as the museum also specializes in sound art.

You have not been able to get enough of this modern form of presenting art in a multimedial manner? Then remain in the same building and pay a visit to the Hartware MedienKunstVerein (HMKV), where you can look at contemporary art that is influenced new media and technology, an exhibition even having won an award in 2012.

The childrens´ museum is located in a watchtower that has five storeys and was rebuilt in the way it might have looked in mediaeval times and brings those times closer to children in a playful way.

Here, they can get creative, act as knights and princesses and learn what life was like in Dortmund at the time.

On one of the floors, there is an exhibition showing how such a tower would have been built and the kids can have a go with tools or try on helmets and armor. While they are doing so, the adults can look at a true to life model of the city that can also be found in the tower.

Borussia Dortmund is the local soccer club and is one of the top players in the German league. The Borusseum provides you with a great opportunity to learn something about German fan culture with a karaoke box where you can hear original fan chanting! You can also simply pay a visit to the exhibition or take part in a guided tour.

The natural history museum is located in a park and as the name suggests, you will find everything here that has to do with the flora and fauna of the area, in addition to fossils, minerals and rocks. A permanent exhibition includes terrariums with the paleontological exhibition providing information on human evolution where you can test you knowledge using a computer that has been installed here for just that purpose.

If the weather is good, you can take a walk in the geogarden outside, where you will find rocks from various geological periods.

Dortmund used to have seven breweries so that it is very appropriate that it should have a brewery museum. The museum has ben on this site since 2006 and provides an idea of what the brewing process was and is like from the Middle Ages right up to the present in the form of numerous exhibits, including a classic delivery truck. After all, the beer had to get to the customers!

The old port authority building is now a register office and maritime museum that provides information on shipping and the modern development of the port of Dortmund using models. Another interesting exhibition is an exhibition by private people on the fated ship documenting its short history, including how it was planned , financed and built.

Mondo mio! is an active museum for kids aged 3-12. Located in one of Dortmund´s large park´s the Westfalenpark (entrance fee), the museum is free of charge and the kids can learn what it is like to live in other parts of the world. What ingredients do they need to cook, what do they eat anyway, etc. and afterwards they can have fun in the park while the parents relax.

This former colliery is now the site of an industrial museum that shows the visitor how coal was mined in the past. In addition to the permanent exhibition, there are also temporary exhibitions and a garden that is an exact duplicate of the small gardens the miners had in order to plant their own vegetables, etc. It does not have to be boring for the kids either: they even have their own route through the museum where they learn about mining in a playful way.

The DASA is an institute run by them Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and presents you with everything you might want to know from the world of work from what it´s like behind the wheel of a truck, or using a small excavator to how work was in the past and how we expect it to be in the future in 12 exhibition areas, not forgetting the temporary exhibitions.

This used to be a teacher training college but is now a social history museum and has one of Germany´s largest collection of school history exhibits. The main room displays a schoolroom as it would have look like at around the beginning of the 20th Century and on Sunday afternoons, it is even possible to take part in lessons as they use to be with a special programme for adults, allowing them to step back in time!

This local social history museum has six rooms situated in a part of an old castle (Haus Dellwig) and shows you how the local people used to live, with exhibits from artisan trades such as bakers, carpenters, etc. in addition to there being exhibits from local companies such as office machines and furniture. It is certainly a good way of gaining an insight into how life used to be.

Are you a giraffe fan? Then you do not have to go to Africa. OK, they aren´t real, but there are loads of them in all forms: this private museum has everything that has to do with giraffes from stickers, to plush toys and bathroom mats. The entrance cannot be missed either with the giraffe right at the entrance. It is certain to be fun to both children and adults.