Covering an area of around 1,000 square metres, the play area contains many attractions for our young visitors, allowing them to discover lots of fascinating details of railway history and modern-day rail operations in a playful and entertaining atmosphere. A lot of things are of interest not only to children of course.

The Railway World of Discovery Open picture gallery (8 pictures)

Learn by playing

In several areas of discovery, children can learn about such things as tunnel construction, signals or freight transport. On a Bobby ride-on train track, for example, they can experience for themselves how Deutsche Bahn prevents train collisions. In a dark tunnel, they can test their sense of touch to try and identify objects that train travellers of yesteryear came in contact with. At a computer workstation, the young museum visitors take a training course to become logistics specialists by solving various transport tasks like real Deutsche Bahn professionals.

Playroom for the little ones

In the playroom, our youngest visitors will find Germany’s largest wooden trainset (Brio). Boys and girls can send trains off on a journey, shunt them back and forth and set the signals on this 35-metre long track.

Historical change

Visitors can travel through the history of the railway from 1855 to 1985 at the touch of a button. Five small model railways show the urban and rural changes that have largely been determined by the railway.

Driving simulator

Would-be train drivers can make their dreams come true in the driving simulator. The simulation programme has been integrated into the original driver’s cab of a class 111 electric loco, allowing visitors to have a highly realistic driving experience. Who can take the train quickly and safely to its destination without an emergency brake application?

Travelling in the driver’s cab

When they travel in the driver’s cab, our visitors can lean back and relax and experience a journey from the driving seat. The journeys are historical, with films dating back to the 1950s.

Large model railway set

Modern railway operations can be seen in miniature on the large model railway set, which has a track length of 500 m. In the demonstration, more than 30 trains are set off on their journeys. The “traffic controller on duty” controls train operations from an original control panel. (Demonstrations: every hour from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)