In the center of Nuremberg, the Germanic National Museum offers a journey through 600,000 years of European art, culture and history. High and everyday culture form a unity in the largest cultural history museum in the German-speaking world and provide a fascinating insight into Europe's cultural heritage. European culture has always thrived on exchange. It is like a mirror of ancient, Byzantine, Arabic and Asian culture. The Germanisches Nationalmuseum aims to recognize influences and understand connections in order to tell history.
A Bronze Age gold hat and the oldest globe in the world, the eagle brooch from Ravenna and the astrolabe from Syria illustrate the eventful history of mankind. This is just as impressive as Albrecht Dürer's masterpieces or the kneeling figure by Wilhelm Lehmbruck. A walk through the museum is also a journey through the history of architecture: the postmodern entrance hall leads to the Gothic Carthusian monastery, the green gardens of the inner courtyards are reflected in the modernist glass buildings by Sep Ruf - together they form the Germanic National Museum Nuremberg.
Albrecht Dürer: Portrait of the painter Michael Wolgemut, 1516 on permanent loan from the Bavarian State Painting Collections Photo: GNM, Dirk Messberger
The collections
Today, the collection comprises more than 1.3 million objects. This makes the Germanisches Nationalmuseum the largest museum of cultural history in the German-speaking world and one of the most important museums in the world. The spectrum of the collections ranges from prehistory and early history to contemporary art and culture. Visitors are taken on an exciting journey through the centuries: Highlights include Stone Age hand axes, the mysterious Gold Cone of Ezelsdorf book from the Bronze Age, the precious medieval binding of the Codex Aureus, sculptures by Veit Stoß and masterpieces by Albrecht Dürer.
Gold hat from Ezelsdorf-Buch, 11th to 8th century B.C. Photo: GNM, Monika Runge
The museum also exhibits the so-called Behaim globe, the oldest surviving globe in the world, astrolabes, armor and weapons, one of the most important collections of musical instruments in Europe and rare baroque doll's houses in the toy collection.
Europe and rare baroque doll's houses in the toy collection. Expressionist paintings and design classics from Bauhaus to the present day round off the extensive presentation. There is no other place where the cultural history of the German-speaking world is presented in such abundance. Several special exhibitions a year complement and deepen selected topics on art and cultural history.
THE BEHAIM GLOBE
With around 2000 locations, inscriptions and around 200 pictograms, the Behaim globe resembles an encyclopaedia in the shape of a globe. The references to trade routes and resource deposits in all parts of the world show the economic interests of Christian Central Europe and document the beginnings of European expansion. Particularly along the African coast, numerous coats of arms reveal Portugal's supremacy in maritime and long-distance trade and at the same time the beginning of colonization and the intercontinental slave trade. Geographically speaking, Europe, Asia and Africa are somewhat too large, and the circumference of the earth as a whole is too small - the Americas and Australia are nowhere to be found. With the simultaneous "discovery" of America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, the Behaim globe was basically already outdated during its creation.
Behaim globe, Martin Behaim, Georg Glockendon the Elder and others, Nuremberg, c. 1491-1494 Photo: GNM, Jürgen Musolf
The Behaim Globe tells an illuminating yet sombre chapter in the history of globalization and marks two decisive turning points in the European view of the world. When it was created in 1492, nobody in Europe was aware of the existence of the American continent. In October 1492, Christopher Columbus had landed in the Bahamas, marking the beginning of modern globalization in European terms. As America is missing from the Behaim globe, it marks a fundamental change in the way the world was understood at the time. For a long time, it stood for the success story of European "discoveries" based on science and technology.
Today, against the backdrop of a critical, new view of colonialism and globalization, the Behaim Globe tells a different story and in turn marks a turning point in the relationship between Europe and the world. Today, the Behaim Globe is a central document of European world conquest and the Atlantic slave trade. In the 15th century, Africa was not only to be circumnavigated in search of India, but also economically developed. The globe makes it clear how much the emergence of our modern world was based on the violent appropriation of raw materials, the slave trade and the plantation economy. The Behaim globe shows the first stage of European subjugation and division of the world.
Today, the Behaim Globe is also a document of our ambivalent European cultural heritage. A look back reveals dark shadows and open wounds as well as splendor. The globe is not only a reminder of the European conquests, but also a memorial to the African slaves who played a significant role in the creation of our modern world.
Current special exhibitions:
Microworlds Tin Figures. Alfred R. Sulzer Collection
The Germanisches Nationalmuseum has received an impressive addition to its toy collection: the unique and high-quality Swiss pewter figure collection of Alfred R. Sulzer with over 145,000 pieces. Selected highlights from the collection are presented in the "Microworlds" exhibition.
The figures on display were mainly produced as children's toys between 1750 and the end of the First World War. The most important production sites were Nuremberg and Fürth. Around 40 million pieces from this center found their way onto the national and international market around 1900.
The pewter figures reflect media events and many aspects of cultural history. This mass medium was used to disseminate current images of history and society throughout Europe. The toy shows how contemporary history was prepared for children's worlds and provides exciting insights into the contradictory and rapidly changing worlds of the 19th century on the way to the globalized modern age.
May 9, 2024 to January 26, 2025
State coach of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland from the set "The Opening of Parliament", c. 1853, maker: Gerhard Söhlke, Berlin, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Alfred R. Sulzer's pewter figure collection Photo: Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Annette Kradisch
The last journey
The chariot grave of Essenbach
The archaeological exhibition takes us on a journey back in time to the Late Bronze Age, more precisely to the Urnfield Culture (1300-800 BC).The focus is on a chariot grave that was discovered in Essenbach (Lower Bavaria) in 2011. At the beginning of the Urnfield period, the custom arose of cremating and burying the rulers at the top of society together with a magnificent four-wheeled chariot. The grave and the finds recovered from it show that the "chariot driver", who lived in the 13th century BC, played an important political, economic and religious role and was part of an elite network that extended far beyond Europe.
The exhibition focuses on the Essenbach chariot grave and places it in its cultural-historical context. The tour begins with an introduction to the Central European Urnfield Period and its characteristic burial rituals, which included the cremation of the deceased. The economic and social conditions that were closely linked to the bronze metal urns and led to the emergence of the "chariot driver" elite are discussed. Particular attention is paid to the magnificent four-wheeled chariot, which was pulled by two horses and played an important role in the representation and cult of the Urnfield culture.
High-ranking loans from Germany and abroad illustrate the appearance of the chariots destroyed by the fire of the pyre and explain the conceptual and technical requirements for their creation. The development of the wheel and chariot is also examined. The location of the Essenbach chariot grave and the grave goods it contained, such as a set of bronze weights, provide clues as to the functions that the deceased performed in politics, business and religion during his lifetime. The final chapter deals with a topic that still concerns us today: the destination of the last journey. Religious symbolism and cult objects, including the gold hat from Ezelsdorf/Buch, make it possible to draw conclusions about the religious beliefs of the Urnfield culture, which centered on the sun.
The excavated finds from Essenbach were donated to the GNM by the market town of Essenbach in 2019.
July 25, 2024 to January 7, 2025
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