Nuremberg Toy Museum facts for kids
The Nuremberg Toy Museum, also called Lydia Bayer Museum
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| Former name | Lydia Bayer Museum |
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| Established | 1971 |
| Location | Nuremberg |
| Type | Toy Museum |
| Collection size | 87,000 |
| Visitors | > 150,000 |
| Architect | Wilhelm Haller, senior |
The Nuremberg Toy Museum (also known as the Lydia Bayer Museum) is a super cool place in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. It opened in 1971 and is known worldwide! This museum shows the amazing history of toys, from ancient times all the way to today. It's like a giant treasure chest of playthings!
Contents
How the Museum Started
The Old Building: Hallersches Haus
The museum is in a really old building called the Hallersches Haus. It's located at Karlstraße 13–15. This building dates back to 1517! It used to belong to a rich family named Haller.
Later, in 1611, a jeweler named Paul Kandler bought the house. He had the front of the building changed. Around 1720, a special oriel (a type of window that sticks out) was added.
One cool thing about this building is its Dockengalerie. This is a wooden walkway built around an inner courtyard. It connects different parts of the building. The word 'Docken' refers to the wooden posts used in these galleries. It also means limbless wooden dolls!
The building was damaged during World War II. But don't worry, it was rebuilt in the years that followed. Today, it's even a stop on the "Historical Mile Nuremberg" tour.
The Bayer Family's Toy Collection
The heart of the museum's collection comes from Lydia (1897–1961) and Paul Bayer (1896–1982). They collected about 12,000 toys over many years!
The Bayers started their huge toy collection in the early 1920s. Back then, most people didn't think toys were important for history or culture. But the Bayers knew better! They even had their own private museum in Würzburg, called the Lydia Bayer Museum, which was open to everyone.
The Museum Opens
The city of Nuremberg took over the Bayers' amazing toy collection in 1966. With lots of help, the Hallersches Haus was ready. The Nuremberg Toy Museum officially opened its doors in 1971.
The museum quickly became super popular around the world. It grew bigger too! The exhibit area expanded to 1,200 m2 (13,000 sq ft) in 1989. Then it grew again to 1,400 m2 (15,000 sq ft) in 1998.
The Toy Museum is part of a group called the Nuremberg Municipal Museums. This group also includes other cool places like the Dürer-Haus and the Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds.
The Rooster Rider Fountain
When the museum opened in 1971, a special fountain was put in front of it. It's called the Gockelreiterbrunnen, which means "Rooster Rider Fountain."
The fountain was designed by a Nuremberg artist named Michael Mathias Prechtl. It has a colorful ceramic figure of a rooster rider on top. This figure looks like a wooden toy, which is perfect for a toy museum! It also reminds everyone that Nuremberg is famous for toys.
What You Can See: Exhibitions
The museum has about 87,000 toys in its collection! But only about five percent of them are on display. The rest are kept safely in the museum's storage. You can often see many of them on the museum's website.
The collection shows how toys have changed over time. It really focuses on the last 200 years. You can see how Nuremberg played a big role in making toys during the time of factories and machines.
Permanent Exhibitions and Fun Areas
The museum has different floors, each with cool things to explore:
- Outdoor Area
- Café La Kritz with a fun backyard railroad.
- An outdoor playground called Shadowland. It has a rope net pyramid, a rolling ball sculpture, a labyrinth, and even distorting mirrors!
- First Floor
- In the Beginning was the Wood: Here you'll find all sorts of wooden toys.
- This floor also has special rooms for temporary exhibits and a museum shop.
- Second Floor
- Dolls, dollhouses: See beautiful dolls, Nuremberg kitchens (miniature kitchens for dolls), and figures made of paper and tin.
- Optical toys: Discover old-fashioned visual toys like the zograscope, the magic lantern, and the stereoscope. These were like early movies!
- Third Floor
- World of Technology: This floor is for all things mechanical! You'll see a huge model railway, lots of toy vehicles, trains, steam engines, and other cool technical toys.
- Top Floor
- Toys since 1945: This section has toys from after World War II. You'll find familiar favorites like Lego, Barbie, and Playmobil, plus many more modern toys.
- Kids on top: This is a special new area just for kids! You can play, do handicrafts, play table-top football, build with different construction sets, or read children's books. It's a great place to have fun!
