Kaiserpfalz

Underground Pader well, Kaiserpfalz, Paderborn

In the 8th century Charles the Great created the Pfalz Paderborn as one of his seats. At was lost over time but in 1964 the basis of this ancient building was rediscovered during construction works. It has then been preserved and made visible – and directly next to it the LWL-Museum in der Kaiserpfalz has been built. This museum exhibits historic findings of the area underneath an amazing event location.

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Now & then

City model, Historisches Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Directly next to the Römerberg of Frankfurt am Main you will find two buildings that together form the Historisches Museum Frankfurt, a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the city at the river Main. It was founded in 1877 with the task to collect items that are relevant to the history of the city. Today it is a combination of at least three museums: the collectors museum exhibiting all the private collections donated to the city, the young museum for children and the city museum giving you insight into Frankfurts past and present.

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City history

Städtisches Museum, Göttingen

Like every city, Göttingen is collecting items relevant to the history of the region. That’s the task of the Städtisches Museum located in the Hardenberger Hof. It was created in 1883 and was first placed in the Grätzelhaus at the Goetheallee. In 1897 it moved to its current location, an ancient building from the year 1592. The building was continuously extended but the buildings have two central drawbacks: they are not visible from the pedestrian zone (even though it is not far away) and maintaining these old buildings costs a lot of money.

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Museum für Komische Kunst

Caricatura, Frankfurt am Main

Need something to laugh? The Caricatura – Museum für Komische Kunst at Frankfurt am Main is a museum for comical art and exhibiting mainly cartoons with the intention to make the viewers laughing out loud. This special museum exists since 2008 and it is well-located in this city which has a long satiric history. The ground floor is used for changing exhibitions and while I was there cartoons by Klaus Stuttmann where shown, leading continuously back through time and German history and politics.

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Kansallismuseo

Kansallismuseo, Helsinki

Time to learn more about Finnish history? The Finnish national museum (or Suomen kansallismuseo) of Helsinki is a great place to do so. It is not a boring history museum; it is immersive, playful, simply great. The exhibition shows all about Finnish history, from stone age to the 21st century and is presented in an amazing historical building from 1910.

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Kiasma

Kiasma, Helsinki

The Kiasma at Helsinki is a museum for contemporary art. The name refers to the optic chiasma, the point where optic nerves cross in the brain. The architecture is fantastic and the museum conception is a bit crazy and therefore the museum is absolutely fun to visit. It was built in the 1990s after a lot of controversies and after the plans of U.S. architect Steven Holl. He was the first foreigner to design a building in Helsinki after the time of German architect Carl Ludwig Engels.

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designmuseo

Designmuseo, Helsinki

You like Scandinavian design but have not yet introduced yourself to specific Finnish design? Then have a look at the designmuseo in the design quarter of Helsinki. It was founded already in 1873 and exhibits all kinds of design, including graphic design, industrial design an fashion. And it is absolute fun to spend some time there!

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Subterranean

Amos Rex, Helsinki

The Amos Rex Art Museum is a fantastic exhibition place for art at Helsinki. It has a special location: very close to the city center, but underground. If you want to visit it you need to go to the Lasipalatsi, a functionalist building close to the main railway station. It combines coffee bars, shops, restaurants and a cinema (the Bio Rex). And underneath the Lasipalatsi (glass palace) you can find museum – fortunately the entrance at the building is clearly visible.

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Time-travel

Seurasaari museum, Helsinki

The island Seurasaari in the north-west of Helsinki gives you the option to travel in time. An open-air museum exhibits 87 buildings from the Finnish countryside that have been built between the 17th and the 20th century and later transported to the island. This includes farm buildings, a church and even a mill. The staff is dressed-up in historic clothes and able to tell you more about the function of the buildings and rural life in the past.

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