A corporate museum since 1996
Deutsche Bahn AG takes over the railway department of the Transport Museum
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When Deutsche Bahn AG took over the Museum of Transport as the corporate museum, it seized the opportunity for a fundamental restructuring of the museum. Just as Deutsche Bahn is a provider of mobility services for everyone, the DB Museum also caters for a broad public. This became the key principle on which the restructuring of the museum has been based since 1996.
Original and miniaturerail vehicles
The focus of the museum continues to be its impressive collection of original vehicles, the centre piece of which is undoubtedly the saloon coach built for Bavaria’s King Ludwig II. Another major visitor attraction is the large model railway on the first floor that was opened back in 1960.
Opening of the Railway World of Discovery
The other exhibition areas of the DB Museum have been completely restructured in the course of the last few years. As early as 1997, for example, the “Railway World of Discovery” was opened. On the principle of a “hands-on museum”, it offers children a playful way of finding out what the railway is all about.
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A virtual tour |
“History of the Railway in Germany”
Since 2001, a new permanent exhibition entitled “History of the Railway in Germany” has been set up in stages. The technical development of the railway is now embedded in an overall view of railway history, meaning that the economic, social, political and cultural context is also taken into account. Visitors learn how rail travel first came to Germany from England and how it brought about a radical change in the way people viewed the landscape, and indeed in their entire day-to-day lives. Since September 2002, the subject of “Deutsche Reichsbahn during National Socialism” has been made accessible to visitors. It shows how the Reichsbahn, which had been founded during the Weimar Republic, subordinated itself completely to the will of the Nazis. The exhibition also includes the history of the Reichsbahn in the GDR, which is presented in a separate department in parallel with the history of the Bundesbahn.
