German Museum of Technology (Deutsches Technikmuseum): planes, trains and visitor guide

The Deutsches Technikmuseum fills the former goods station and locomotive depot of the Anhalter Bahnhof in Kreuzberg. You spot it from afar thanks to the "raisin bomber", a Douglas C-47 aircraft hanging above its modern building. Inside are more than 40 aircraft and large objects, 40 original rail vehicles in two roundhouses from 1874, and the Science Center Spectrum with its hands-on experiments. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday; admission is free for under-18s, which makes it a popular family outing. Allow at least half a day: aviation, the railways and Spectrum alone can fill an afternoon.

Highlights

The "raisin bomber"

The Douglas C-47 B Skytrain mounted on top of the new building, which opened in 2001, is the museum's emblem. It recalls the 1948-1949 airlift, when Allied planes supplied West Berlin during the Soviet blockade; Berliners nicknamed them "Rosinenbomber".

The railway roundhouses

The two locomotive sheds from 1874, with their outdoor turntables, were part of the Anhalter Bahnhof depot. The exhibition "Eisenbahn: Revolution und Alltag", reopened in 2024, covers the early days of rail up to 1914 across 6,000 m²: an open passenger carriage from 1843, a Berlin horse-drawn tram from 1865, Emperor Wilhelm II's saloon car and an S 10 steam locomotive cut open to show how it works. A goods wagon and twelve Berlin life stories recall the deportation of the Jews.

The site from above

Seen from the air, the roundhouse forms a half-circle around its turntable. Behind the buildings lies the museum's 12-hectare park, with an old brewery, working windmills and a forge's water wheel.

Aviation

The exhibition "Vom Ballon zur Luftbrücke", from the balloon to the airlift, brings together more than 40 aircraft and large objects. The largest is the Junkers Ju 52, nicknamed "Tante Ju" (Auntie Ju); the oldest fully preserved aircraft is a Jeannin Stahltaube from 1914. The exhibition also covers bombing raids and forced labour in aircraft factories.

The Science Center Spectrum

In a separate building, reached via the Ladestraße (Möckernstraße 26), more than 150 experiment stations invite you to touch and test: light and vision, electricity and magnetism, mechanics, heat, music and sound. It keeps the same hours as the museum, and your museum ticket covers it on the same day.

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