September 7, 2024, 3:32 pm | Read time: 6 minutes

Museum visits are booming. This is because instead of the often super-old works of art on bare walls, many museums are attracting visitors with their spectacular architecture and hands-on exhibits. The trending topics are technology, history, and art. The users have rated and Tripadvisor has just awarded the winner of the best museum in Germany.

The ranking was based on millions of experience reports and ratings submitted by users of the travel portal for their visits to museums throughout Germany. The more points and ratings a museum received, the higher it was in the ranking. A maximum of five could be awarded if the museum was at the top. Are you curious to find out who came out on top? We won’t keep you in suspense any longer. Here are the rankings:

1st place: Pergamon Museum, Berlin

The museum scored a whopping 4.5 out of five possible rating points in 6,803 reviews (as of September 23, 2014). These are the most and best reviews in the rankings, thus taking first place for the cultural center. It has been enthroned on the Museum Island in the capital since 1930 and houses the Collection of Classical Antiquities, the Museum of the Ancient Near East, and the Museum of Islamic Art. Among other things, the Pergamon Altar, the Market Gate of Miletus and the Ishtar Gate (photo above) made the museum famous worldwide. What’s more, the Pergamon Museum is the only German museum to make it into the top 25 museums in Europe this year. A tip from a Tripadvisor user: “However, we recommend booking tickets online or arriving one hour before the museum opens.”

However, if you want to see the Pergamon Museum in all its glory this year, you’ll have to hurry. From next Monday, a large part of the building will close for renovation work. The last day the Pergamon Altar Hall will be open is Sunday, September 28, 2014, but the south wing of the museum with the Ishtar Gate, the Processional Way, and the Market Gate of Miletus, as well as the Museum of Islamic Art, will remain open.

2nd place: Topography of Terror, Berlin

With more than 3,500 reviews and 4.5 out of five possible points, the documentation center on National Socialism is in second place. As impressive as the name is, the visitors seem to be just as moved. “Seeing how people had to suffer under systems of injustice and the methods used is very thought-provoking,” writes a Tripadvisor user about the exhibition. The exhibition is located next to the Martin-Gropius-Bau and is near Potsdamer Plat. It is on the exact spot where the most important headquarters of Nazi terror stood from 1933 to 1945.

3rd place: Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart

Sensational five rating points from TripAdvisor users, more than 1,700 testimonials, and thus the bronze medal for the automobile museum in southern Germany. Here, you can get hands-on with history and, above all, technology. Small models, big fast cars, speedsters and retro sleds are staged here.

4th place: Deutsches Museum, Munich

Some people need a whole day, some families even two days, to explore the museum. With more than 2,200 reviews and 4.5 out of five points, this exciting institution for families and various age and interest groups took its place right next to the podium. With around 28,000 objects, it is probably the largest science and technology museum in the world. And if you want to find out which celebrities are behind the abbreviations U1, Ju52 and MIPAS, there is no way around a visit to the Deutsches Museum.

5th place: BMW Museum, Munich

Some find the hallowed automobile halls “a great journey through BMW history and BMW models” while others find them “a welcome change for Oktoberfest tourists”. Probably because of the successful mix of history, models, and the inclusion of Rolls-Royce, the BMW Museum made it into the top 10 in fifth place, crowned by almost 2000 testimonials and 4.5 out of five rating points.

6th place: German Historical Museum, Berlin

There is a lot of history to be seen here within one visit. “Highly interesting cross-section through two millennia of German history. Very high-quality exhibits with a contemporary presentation,” reports a Tripadvisor user who gave one of the 1,330 ratings and contributed to the 4.5 out of five points. Around 900,000 objects convey and discuss German history. Admission to the museum in the Mitte district is even free for those up to the age of 18.

7th place: The Pinakotheken, Munich

The plural name makes sense, as four different art museums are united under one roof. Almost 900 reviews and 4.5 out of five possible points led to seventh place in the Tripadvisor rankings of the best museums in Germany.

8th place: Documentation Center Nazi Party rally grounds, Nuremberg

Visitors are guided through the Second World War in words, sound, and moving images. Even today, gigantic ruins on the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds in the south of Nuremberg bear witness to the megalomania of the National Socialist regime, writes the center on its website. “It makes you shudder and think. Definitely worth a visit!” says one Tripadvisor user. The result in the rankings was 605 reviews and 4.5 out of five points.

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9th place: Neues Museum, Berlin

Nefertiti is “enthroned in a beautiful room, beautifully staged”, recalls a Tripadvisor user after his visit. He gave one of the 1,292 ratings. Overall, the museum, which still has bullet holes from the Second World War on its walls, received 4.5 out of five points. In addition to the famous female head, the museum also exhibits around 9,000 other objects. These come from Eurasian cultures dating from the Palaeolithic to the High Middle Ages.

The original version of this article was published in 2014.