For one night of the year, every year, more than 40 museums, galleries, and other artistic locations in Düsseldorf open their doors for visitors through the night. The Night of the Museums (Nacht der Museen in German) often takes place in the springtime and more than 20,000 visitors explore the city by night going to some of the coolest events, performances, concerts, and parties which are all part of the Nacht der Museen festivities.
Featured image credit: Sabrina Schmidt
If you’re not from Düsseldorf, it’s worth taking the train in for! Don’t worry about buying a transit ticket when you get here, they offer their own bus lines for the evening.
What types of locations are open during Nacht der Museen?
Year by year, the events change and the locations change. However, for the most part, many of the larger museums and event locations host some sort of special event year after year. There are more than 40 different events going on during Nacht der Museen, here are just a few you might recognize:
- K21 – Kunstsammlung NRW (in orbit installation)
- Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum
- Historical Train Depot am Steinberg
- Düsseldorfer Marionetten-Theater
- Filmmuseum Düsseldorf
- Goethe-Museum Düsseldorf
- Heinrich-Heine-Institut
- KIT – Kunst im Tunnel
- Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
- Kunstpalast
- NRW-Forum Düsseldorf
- UCI Kinowelt Düsseldorf
Unlike a typical visit to one of these locations during the day, many of these museums and event spaces have live music, special art features, and food & drink during Nacht der Museen. Even if you’ve been there before on any given day, exploring these places by night is certainly a unique experience!
Some of these locations also offer FREE entrance throughout the month on particular days of the week.
How do you get around during Nacht der Museen?
There are Nacht der Museen shuttle buses that run from 7:00 PM – 2:00 AM (times are always subject to change year by year) and all the event locations can be reached within a 5-10 minute walk of each bus stop. The bus stops and schedules can always be found in the information guide that you are given upon purchasing your ticket.
Tip: If you find the walk too far or would prefer a less crowded experience, purchase a Rheinbahn Happy Hour Ticket (valid from 6:00 PM – 6:00 AM) which you can use as often as you would like during the night.
Tips on making the most of your night at Nacht der Museen
There are so many awesome museums and event spaces worth visiting during Nacht der Museen and although 7 hours seems like enough time to see and do everything, you’ll be surprised how long you actually do spend at any given location. You’ll also need to account for the time it takes to take a shuttle bus from one location to another. For example, if you intend on visiting the Aquazoo at Nordpark and then make your way to Benrath Castle, this might not be the best way to plan out your night.
With that being said, grab a pamphlet beforehand so you can see the bus routes, or check it out on the Nacht der Museen website.
There are 3 different bus shuttle lines which all drive-in counterclockwise directions, which means while one event location may be very close to the next, that next location could actually be the last stop on the shuttle bus line for you.
That’s why it’s very important to mark down which locations you would like to visit during Nacht der Museen so that you can plan accordingly.
Once you have an idea of where you’d like to go and the order you’d like to visit them in, it’s time to plan where you’ll be grabbing your next drink. Many of the event locations offer food and drink on-premises, but if you have a bit of walking to do in between, a Wegbier isn’t all that bad of an idea – haha!
Additional information about Nacht der Museen:
Ticket Price: 14,00 Euro (prices are always subject to change)
Ticket Purchase: Tickets can be purchased at participating locations, ticket agencies, and AD ticket
Opening hours: 7:00 PM – 2:00 AM (however, each location operates within their own hours, so double check)
More information: www.nacht-der-museen.de
If you’re interested in learning more about museums and art opportunities around Düsseldorf, we have plenty more where that came from!
