Gutenberg-Museum

As an English speaking person, I found going to the Visitor Center first very helpful. I bought the audio-tour which is available in many languages. A significant amount of the posted narratives are in German. My German really needed the help. Additionally, they offer guide books in many languages, , souvenirs, reproductions, ink, quills etc.. this is also where you sign up for the tours. If you take the tour you are given a chance to use the wooden press and make your own print. If you choose a self-tour, I suggest you start on the second floor.

Of the 180 copies that Gutenberg originally printed starting in 1454, just 49 survive today. Of the 49 copies, 21 are complete and only 4 of the 21 are complete copies that are printed on vellum. The museum has complete and incomplete copies on display in a very dark room to preserve them. The three-volume Bible was written in Latin and printed in 42-line columns. The three volumes are the Hebrew Old testament and 3 Greek New Testaments. Gutenberg (1398-1468) was of course given credit for the invention of printing from movable metal type in Western Europe. He also developed an oil based ink that contained carbon, copper, lead and titanium that acted like a varnish. He printed on paper and vellum, His printed type style was "Textualis", pages had justified margins and rubrication ( use of red ink) was used to overprint with emphasized letters and decorative flourishes.

The museum has sections devoted to printing equipment and examples of printed materials from many cultures. The Chinese actually developed movable type centuries before Gutenberg. There are examples of the Chinese movable type on display. This museum is for those interested in printing and it's history, as well as, seeing first hand Gutenberg's accomplishments. For an adult admission price of $5, it is a bargain even though it is a small museum. Interesting is the fact that no one really knows what Gutenberg looked like but statues of Gutenberg are all over the city of Mainz,

We are in the Ville for a few days. So today was a perfect time to visit.

So much more than we expected. The Survivor Gutenberg bibles in a bank safe. With a watcher.

Floor after floor of printed rare books,
Hand scribed bibles , tiny -tiny books and every imaginable printing press.
A small furnace model with a mold and bronze casting as a example of how individual letters could be cast and finished. A engraving machine to make plates for bond certificates.
Similar to money certificates.

And a movie theater explaining the history of the man. Birth to death.
Really great 3 hours. Nice little Art shop at the end.

I wish that our tour had allowed us more time to explore the area. The short time we had to visit was not enough to take in the enormity of what Johannes Gutenberg did for mankind. To see one of the complete Gutenberg bibles is something I will never forget. The volume of historical books here is staggering. If you are easily bored by history, this is not the place for you.

If you are a fan of books, printing, and the expansion of the Information Age, the Gutenberg Museum is Mecca.

As a former graphic designer and current librarian I had to visit this place to pay homage to the person who invented one of the most important things ever-- the printing press.

Admission is only 5 Euros. Start on the second floor and work your way up from there. I enjoyed looking at the collection of old printing presses first. There is also some explanation of the printing processes of engraving and lithography.

The highlight of the collection is on the 2nd floor and in a bullet- and fire-proof safe. It houses two complete Gutenberg Bibles as well as some very rare books. This is a special little room and you can feel the energy of importance as you enter-- you are in the presence of a huge and important crossroads in time and space. Even if it is just vellum and ink. These are objects that created an avalanche of industry in books, reading, information, revolutions, ideas, and the sharing of all of it. Books were the first internet.

After the strong room there is a lovely and well-placed gray leather sofa where you may linger to consider the largeness of what you have just experienced. Not one, but two Bibles printed by the hand of Gutenberg. I loved learning at the Gutenberg Museum that no one really knows what he looked like but many have created a shared vision of an older gentleman with a beard and a cap.

There was more to the museum but I was exhausted and exited through the gift shop. Here you can find some helpful guide books in many languages, souvenirs, toys, reproductions, ink, quills,

I love going to museums and have visited many in my lifetime. This is one of the best museums I have ever visited. I had a great experience here and thought the exhibitions and displays were educational and interesting-- most were in English, for which I am truly grateful. The lighting is low because paper and vellum are very delicate and sensitive to light. This is not a great museum for people who are visually impaired due to the low light level.

Thank you, Gutenberg Museum in Mainz-- I am a fan.

A part of me wants to write this place off, but that has more to do with getting told off for taking pictures when I couldn't see any signs saying I wasn't allowed to take photos. Mind you, a part of that is my fault because I should have asked when I bought the tickets (as I usually do) as opposed to just assuming that I could. Anyway, this museum is more than just a museum about Gutemberg, rather it is a museum that looks at the whole history of printing, including China who actually beat Gutenberg by something like two hundred years. It also covers modern media, though the things I found most interesting were the really old books on display.

Visited Mainz, DE with friends and experienced a unique visit . Mainz is a very interesting progressive looking city, modern structures amidst old ancient buildings. It is Germany so it's very nice to experience efficiency and availability of traveler friendly services everywhere. The history of the Holy Roman Empire is well known here but I learned something new and forever to be remembered: the Jewish community was also centered here, was expelled (during the crusades and WWI), persecuted (Black Plague, crusades, WWII) and now finally, there is a resurgence of Jewish life in Mainz. Had I not visited Mainz, I probably would not have known about the history of Jewish people here. In addition to the Gutenberg printing press, the first sentence written in Yiddish took place in Mainz. Totally cool!!! We are thankful to the City of Mainz for a well presented information session at the Gutenberg and the city itself. Here's a link about the rebuilding of the Jewish community in Mainz.

http://jewishgen.blogspot.com/2011/02/rebirth-of-mainz-meor-hagolah-synagogue.html

Back to the program, one really impressive building in Mainz is the Gutenberg Museum. The museum was loaded with displays of 'readable' media, various forms and 'printed' samples that were existent prior to Gutenberg's printing system. Docents and guides of this museum demoed re-enactments of Gutenberg's pioneering processes for all visitors to witness. I was pretty much in a yeah-yeah-that's-9th-grade-world-history-thats-nice mode...... Then.

After walking away from the museum, lightbulb moment..... Gutenberg invented a printing process (the moveable typeface) that enabled an author (the Catholic Church and its Gutenberg Bible) to socialize content with the rest of the world (after a book is printed and read), in the same way the Internet has allowed an author to share content with the rest of the world (this time instantaneous). Rightfully, Gutenberg's printing press, like the iPhone, Facebook, Twitter and Yelp, has changed how the world shares information and the Information Age forever. Today we Yelp daily like it's nothing. It's a mind blowing moment to stand at the place where it all began. Wowzers printing press! This museum is well worth the visit. So if ya evah in Mainz, do the Gutenberg Museum thang!

Tip: While there is an original version of the Gutenberg Bible in the museum, the Museum makes mention that the U.S. owns the most coveted of the Gutenberg Bibles in the world located, in the U.S. Congress and Huntington Library (in California). The U.S. version contains lettering & font styles that's considered rare, ornate, exquisite. Pictures are not allowed in the Gutenberg Bible Room in Mainz and they will go through great lengths to ensure you don't.

Visits: 1

Mainz is home of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable type writer press and identified by Time Magazine as the most important individual in the last millennium.

This is the museum filled with printing history from West to the East civilization.

There are signs in English, but most of are German.

No picture is allowed inside the museum.

Overall, Interesting place if yo are into the history of printing.

Decent museum, staff super unfriendly. Needing an indoor activity to get us out of the rain we stopped in, I was surprised by how the museum was and how little of it was actually Gutenberg and the printing of the Bible.

They do have kid activities at certain times but if. It at those time, netter have a tour kids or your kids will be bored and running around in circles yelling like the other kid we saw there.

Great for those with interest in manuscripts, printing history, communication development. Most signs are in German, and the English audio tour (additional € 3,50) skims over a magnificent collection.
Naturally, the safe room with the Gutenberg bibles and similarly rare books is worth viewing, although the Oriental gallery was as interesting, since this aspect of printing/type casting/typesetting is not often explored.
A good use of several hours while in Mainz.

I thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent in the museum, but I am a nerd. If you are interested in early printing, what sparked the Information Age, the Reformation, the Industrial Revolution, and probably a thousand other movements that changed our world forever, then you might appreciate this. After hearing about Gutenberg bibles all these years, it was nice to finally see one. The museum has all the old bits and pieces that professor James Burke demonstrated with in his 1970s television series "Connections," and I half expected the museum to be inside the tiny old building where he filmed it. There are audioguides available in various languages including English, and at certain times there are German-language demonstrations in the basement, which they make child-friendly by asking for audience participation. Adult entrance was 3 euros and the audioguides were 3.50. If you are attracted to shiny objects or watch a lot of reality television, then you might want to skip this place.