A Must See: Deutsches Museum

After recovering from a very late New Year's Eve, in which we stayed the night with Aaron and Kerstin, we decided to venture out and visit the Deutsches Museum. We planned it all out - take a packed lunch, leave early, and have plenty of time to explore the vast museum.

First - we missed the bus by 30-seconds. So, we waited for the next (20-minutes) and almost missed it too! As the bus pulled away, I looked at Dan and asked, "Do you have the backpack?" Turns out, I was the last one out of the RV and had failed to notice that the backpack was still there (to Dan's credit, he had the kids and had stepped out to take the garbage out.).

Next, as we exited the bus with the stroller, the driver lowered the hydraulics. The front tires of Sophia's stroller were jammed between the curb and under the bus! The driver can't raise the hydraulics without closing the doors, which wouldn't close because the stroller was now 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the bus! Sophia was NOT amused. We finally got through to the anxious driver (who appeared to be having his examination) to pull slowly forward and to the left. Success! No damage to the stroller - we were on our way again.

The next setback has to do with user error. We learned a great reminder of traveling mass transit in Munich - one stop is not necessarily 1 block. Rather than transfer to the next U-bahn, we decided to figure it out ourselves. An hour later, we discovered the outdoor ice skating rink, and also that we were now two U-bahn stops from the museum.

Defeated, we ate a fast food lunch and then boarded the nearest U-Bahn. Amazingly, when one exits at the correct stop, chances are much higher one will find what they are looking for.

Arriving about 2-hours later than we had anticipated, we finally entered the Deutsches Museum. I'll admit now that our visit didn't do the museum justice. There's simply too much housed under one roof.

We first toured the vast mining exhibit. The upstairs contains the above ground machinery utilized to sort materials and production of oil and gasoline (in addition to other gasses) and examples of the drilling equipment. Following the signs, we entered the "mine" and descended downwards for what turned out to be about an hour-long tour of realistic mining operations.

After the mines, we found the heavy machinery - Dan was all but drooling. How many hobbyists would kill to have half the equipment in the exhibit? Had we been able to do our research in advance of the visit, there are opportunities to see live demonstrations of the lathes and other machines. At one lathe, you can buy a miniature replica of the Olympic Needle, made before your eyes. (a note to everyone who says "That's what the Internet is for" ... it's not always available when we need it - Internet cafes with 2 kids are not feasible for long and our campsites often don't have access points; or the cost is prohibitive.)

Wandering on (and wiping the look of longing from Dan's face), we next discovered the aeronautics exibits. Airplanes, war planes, rockets, a space shuttle capsule. Very cool stuff to fuel dreams. Here's a picture of me and Sophia climbing the stairs next to a rocket. Speedy Dan and Megan were up above, tempted to see if they could spit on us. They chose to take a picture instead.

Before we were finished with the aeronautics exhibits, I saw the "Kinder Reich" sign pointing downstairs. We ventured down and found one of the best children's museums I've ever seen! The kids were thrilled to be turned loose on the water exibits, giant lego building blocks, even the over sized guitar that you can climb into and feel how the instrument works through vibrations. My personal favorite was the sound-proof rooms - 3 in total. In the main room was an oversized zylophone; one of the smaller rooms contained drums and the final room contained a piano with the cover off. Cool stuff - especially that those outside this area of the exhibit didn't have to deal with the noise.

After a snack in the cafe (prices weren't too bad and the cake was pretty yummy... and they serve beer!), we ventured onward. It was already close to 5pm - we breezed through the textiles exibit and on the way out, had fun exploring their exhibit on bridges. Lots of models to examine and one life-sized suspension bridge to walk over and experiment with how the bridge response to movements. By now, we started hearing the "15-minute" warnings that the museum was about to close. Sadly, we wandered out, retrieved our outer layers and Sophia's stroller and started the journey home.

This museum is definitely worth the visit. We would visit again in a heart-beat. Though this time, would make sure to know when and where to find the active exhibits. I'd love to see the lathe and the laser in action. Nevermind the other exhibits we missed - and trust me, there's plenty we didn't explore.

Other pictures:

Can't they harness the energy? (Kid sized hamster wheel in the kid's museum):

Megan learns how a pulley can help you lift something heavy: