Technik Museum Speyer

Gut für alle, die sich lediglich die Ausstellungsstücke ansehen wollen. Große Flugzeuge wie den Jumbo Jet und demnächst auch einen russischen Weltraumtransporter sieht man schließlich nicht alle Tage von innen. Wer allerdings nach weitergehenden Erklärungen zu den Ausstellungsstücken sucht, sucht vergebens. In dem Sinne ist das Technikmuseum kein Museum, sondern eher eine Abstellkammer mit ganz besonderen Attraktionen.

To be fair, I have been to more museums than I can count, or even remember. This one will not be forgotten. The scope of their collection is immense when it comes to transportation and history. We are traveling on a river cruise and unfortunately I didn't have enough time to see everything. Everything thought is well cared for and in good condition. The war artifacts are fascinating for me. Learning about WW2 history as a child, I never thought that I would have the opportunity to see it firsthand. Remains of the weapons of war are a sobering reminder of our shared past.
The other part of the museum that I was able to see with my limited time concerned the rail, air, and auto portion in the entrance hall. Everything is displayed nicely, is well lit, and has information in multiple languages. I would most certainly visit again if we have the chance to do so.

LOVED IT. I could spend days here, there's so much to see and do. Getting to see the interiors and cutaways and undersides and in many cases climbing up staircases to board planes that were mounted at angles, unbelievable. The Lufthansa 747 was particularly incredible, AND if you grab a sliding mat from the bottom of the stairs and bring it up with you, there's a tube slide that goes for several stories!! I saw the slide but missed picking up a rug; by the time I saw people carrying rugs at the top I didn't want to descend to pick up and ascend again.

The space program exhibit was mind-blowing. There was an actual Russian shuttle, a Soyuz capsule (unbelievably tiny), and a rather burned-up looking 1/8 scale shuttle prototype that they used to test instrumentation and heat shielding. The model lunar module and LUNAR ROVER was a personal highlight -- my daddy worked on an antennae on the actual moon buggy that is still up there on the moon. Every single Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo flight had a big info card and photos, and there were loads for the shuttle missions, the Russian space program, and the ISS... I just ran out of brain space to take in any more info.

If we brought my dad here he would never, ever leave. I only made it through perhaps half the museum because I ended up on complete visual and information overload. I wish I could go back tomorrow and the next day to absorb more. My only regret is that I wish I had understood from the outset that the (Russian) shuttle was at Speyer and the Concorde was at a different branch of the same museum, in Sinsheim. I kept looking for it, convinced you can't hide a Concorde, until I realized there were two locations and they were, in fact, "hiding" the Concorde and the Russian supersonic jet, the Tupolev.

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

BTW, a surprisingly good cafe -- we each got an enormous and delicious schnitzel, fries, and drink for about €12 each. I think at the Smithsonian once I paid $3 for a mass-produced cup of yogurt.

Very neat museum! It has something for everyone from your classic car enthusiast to your aviation buffs. You can explore a fire engine collection to walk through a Boeing 747 which is on stilts in the sky. There is an extensive collection on the space program. There is even a Russian rocket. It's a must visit.

So we get to Speyer. It's hot. They give us a choice between walking around town to look at MORE old stuff and cathedrals and squares bla bla bla OR, behind door number TWO, we could strike off on our own to see the Technik Museum Speyer. What would a geeky math guy and his engineer dad do? DUH, y'all.

The staff spoke enough English to sell us tickets. My dad and I went in the door. After about five minutes, I left my 80-year-old dad behind. (He's not old, just 80.) Had no idea what happened to him. TOO MANY SHINY OBJECTS.

In America, we have science and industry museums. Chicago has a great one. They have a really cool big streamlined diesel train from the '50s. You can walk through it. You can see the seats and how it's made of shiny stainless steel. You can marvel at the trucks, couplers and articulations.

In Germany, they have a room dedicated to a diesel fuel pump. They show it to you assembled. They show it to you in cutaway. They show it to you in exploded view. They show you where the fuel goes in, what drives it, and where it connects to the cylinder intake. They show you an early version. They show you what changed to make it a wildly popular fuel pump. They have big photos of the factory machinery that made it, including people who worked there. They have lists of machinery it was installed in.

Is that geeky or WHAT? Then in the next room ...

In the NEXT room, the first thing you see is a steam locomotive WITH THE BOILER COVER OPEN. I DIDN"T EVEN KNOW THE FRONT OF THE LOCOMOTIVE OPENED LIKE THAT! IT WAS SO COOL!!!!

Pardon me for getting excited. BUT IT WAS GREAT!

And they have an Antonov you can climb around in (big as a barn inside! No, wait, you can put four barns inside!) and a collection of way cool Bulldog tractors - including one in its Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes - and a WWII tracked motorcycle (weirdest abomination you've EVER) and a big ol' collection of fire trucks from all over the world INCLUDING some American ones. Those are just plain old American LaFrances and GMCs and Dodges, but of course they're exotic to Germans!

And there's the Buran - the Soviet copy of the Space Shuttle. Boy, that thing really sucked. I mean, it's only the early design, but it's full of heavy steel and the heat-shield tiles are all beat to snot and I can't imagine the thing lasting more than a couple of flights before it toasts its occupants on descent. Amazing. And right below it has got to be the coolest Benz ever - custom-made for the Shah of Iran. Wow.

OK, there's some just-weird stuff. There's a side building (un air-conditioned) with superhero figurines. There are a bunch of 20th century locomotives that languish in the weeds that I really wanted to see. And the gift shop was crappy (MAN I wanted a coffee mug I could tell stories about!). But I had fun. And I eventually found my dad. He'd headed back to the cruise ship. Fortunately, he understood. I think I'm still in the will. (I do feel really bad. Sorry, Dad!)

Some of the signage is in English, but most is just in Deutsch. But it's technical Deutsch, so half of the words are the same, so c'mon, you can read it! Besides, it's cars and airplanes and boats and stuff. Do you really need subtitles?

If you're a geek, GO THERE. IT'S GREAT. If you're not, make sure you know the way back to the boat...

Been to the three biggest rocket related sites in the US and was impressed with the history. I didn't realise that this museum has much devoted to past and future space flight. The placards and artifacts (eg replica Vostok-1, insurance covers, first day covers) and photos will consume much of your time if you are a space fan. In fact, quite a number of former astronauts have visited the collection and autographed their photos. Add all of the other vehicles and rolling stock and you'll have one happy camper. Another must see.

My friend and I took the train to Speyer from about an hour away. The train station is located close to the town center and within easy walking distance of the Technik Museum. I have never seen an exhibit of so many different types of trains, cars, and motorcycles in one place. There is even a Russian space shuttle and an enormous Lufthansa 747 that is perched high above the museum for touring. Children will be fascinated by the many different types of transportation on display. Speyer has a wide range of churches and cafes that can fill the day of sightseeing.

I didn't actually come here for the museum, but for the domed IMAX screen. It was awesome. We watched some kind of space travel film, and the domed screen worked so much better than the IMAX at Bradford (UK) would have. Breathtaking and well worth a visit.