15 museums throughout Bavaria have come together to form the Museen inklusive! network – with many accessible offerings.
- Würzburg Museum
- Museums Aschach Palace
- Edwin Scharff Museum
- Bayreuth Art Museum
- Fladungen Open Air Museum
- Bad Windsheim Open Air Museum
- Celtic Roman Museum
- Galery Bezirk Oberbayern
- Gleintleiten Open Air Museum
- Oberschönenfeld Museum
- Kempten Museum
- Deggendorf City Museum
- Schwandorf City Museum
- Deggendorf Handicraft Museum
- Archaeological Park Cambodunum
15 Museums with Accessible Offerings Across Bavaria
Ad | Bavaria is home to many museums. Some of these are fully accessible and inclusive, allowing everyone to engage with the art and exhibited works. Tactile objects and audio elements cater to the needs of blind visitors. Lifts and step-free access make it easier for wheelchair users to access the various areas. Guided tours are also available in simplified language or sign language. The Museen inklusive network, or the Inclusive Museums Network, allows for the accessible enjoyment of art and culture across Bavaria.
Museum in the Kulturspeicher Würzburg
The former grain warehouse at the Old Harbour has been converted into an accessible art museum and today houses two distinct collections. One is dedicated to Concrete Art and its geometric shapes and colours, and is the largest private collection of its kind in Europe.
The other collection showcases paintings and sculptures by artists from the region, spanning from the 19th to the 21st century. While converting the old storage building to make it accessible, tactile models were created for two paintings, three sculptures and one drawing, along with a floor guidance system and a lift. There’s also an app that provides a tour of the museum, as well as information available in simplified language and German Sign Language.
Museum Würzburg | Accessibility Information
Edwin Scharff Museum Neu-Ulm
The Edwin Scharff Museum is both an art museum and a museum for children and families. In the art museum, you can view works by Edwin Scharff and Ernst Geitlinger. The exhibition dedicated to Edwin Scharff includes two tactile brochures for blind and visually impaired visitors. In the children’s museum, both children and adults can play, explore and try things out.
At the entrance, the tactile map provides an overview of the museum, showing where to find the exhibitions. You can also collect a booklet in simplified language at the ticket desk. The media guide with tours is available for free. There are videos in German Sign Language.
There are various guided tours about Edwin Scharff, including an audio tour for blind and visually impaired visitors, an audio tour in advanced German, one in advanced English, one in simplified language and one for small children and families.
Edwin Scharff Museum | Accessibily Information
Museum of Art Bayreuth
Modern and 21st-century art in the old Baroque Town Hall: The location of the Museum of Art Bayreuth is just as fascinating as its exhibits. These include works from various artistic movements, ranging from Expressionism and Constructivism to Surrealism and performance art.
To ensure access for everyone, an information station is installed at the museum's entrance. It features spoken texts, Braille, tactile images, videos with a sign language interpreter and visual examples. The accessible offerings also include the so-called “Green Dwarf,” a mobile support trolley with educational materials that visitors can push and hold onto.
Museum of Art Bayreuth (only in German)
Franconian Open-Air Museum Fladungen
The museum is dedicated to former rural building, working and living practices, with themed gardens, traditional orchards, fields and meadows from Lower Franconia. The museum grounds are mostly level. Wheelchairs are available for hire at the ticket desk. Many of the buildings are old and, unfortunately, not accessible. Exceptions include the shepherd’s barn, the community brewhouse and the cooper’s workshop.
The cooper’s workshop can also be explored by visitors with visual, hearing or mobility impairments. Additionally, smartphone-guided tours are available with an audio guide. There are tours in simplified language, sign language and with audio descriptions. The tours can be downloaded for free on a smartphone using the Hearonymus app. The herb garden can also be experienced with all one’s senses by visitors in wheelchairs or with visual impairments.
Open-Air Museum Fladungen | Accessibility Information
Franconian Open-Air Museum Bad Windsheim
A paradise from times past: The Franconian Open-Air Museum in Bad Windsheim showcases what life used to be like in rural Franconia. Spread across a large site with gardens, fields, orchards and animals, there are more than 100 original buildings from the past 700 years – ranging from historic farms, breweries, inns and mills to sheep farms and craftsmen’s houses.
The inclusive offerings at the open-air museum include exhibitions designed to be experienced and understood with all one’s senses, as well as audio guides, Braille signs, a booklet in simplified language, a video in sign language, films, audio samples and interactive programmes that appeal to children and families.
Groups can also book interactive programmes where participants work with tools on a stone or with wool. Groups from institutions for people with disabilities can book a special programme with the sheep.
Franconian Open-Air Museum Bad Windsheim
Celtic Roman Museum Manching
Ancient cultures presented in a modern setting: First the Celts, then the Romans settled in Manching, as spectacular finds in the museum reveal. The Roman section offers fascinating insights into life in a Roman military camp. Highlights include two patrol boats, considered the best-preserved Roman warships north of the Alps.
All areas of the museum are accessible for wheelchair users. There are special programmes for people with learning difficulties and for visually impaired children and adults. Visually impaired visitors can also explore the museum without a guide, accompanied by a sighted person. For this, there is a museum bag available, which contains tactile maps, a read-aloud book about the exhibition and replicas.
Celtic Roman Museum (only in German)
Gallery of the Upper Bavaria District in Munich
The Gallery of the Upper Bavaria District (Galerie Bezirk Oberbayern) is an inclusive space for experiencing contemporary art. Each exhibition, featuring works by artists with and without disabilities, offers an educational programme designed for everyone:
- Understanding art through touch – tactile tours with original works from the exhibition
- Understanding art – tours in easily understandable language
- Presenting art – Museum Signers’ tours in German Sign Language with interpretation into spoken language
- Participating in art – creative workshops
- Exhibition texts in simplified language
- Tactile map and exhibition texts in Braille
- Tactile artworks
- Inclusive exhibition video in German Sign Language with subtitles and audio narration
- Accessible entrance and wheelchair-accessible toilet
Gallery Upper Bavaria District (only in German)
Open-Air Museum Glentleiten
The Open-Air Museum Glentleiten stretches over a large area of meadows and forests above Lake Kochel. It offers spectacular views of mountains and lakes. More than 60 historic buildings, along with their interiors, have been reconstructed in this picturesque landscape. They provide insights into the rural life of Upper Bavaria in former times.
Demonstrations of old craft techniques, traditional livestock breeds and heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties are part of the museum’s “collection.” Due to the museum’s hillside location, electric push-assist wheelchairs are available for hire. Other inclusive offerings include audio stations and tactile objects, guided tours with sign language interpreters and explanations in simplified language.
Open Air Museum Glentleiten | Accessibility Information
Kempten Museum in the Zumsteinhaus
The Kempten Museum vividly and clearly tells the fascinating story of the 2,000-year-old Roman city. It’s a place for hands-on participation, where visitors can explore and try out a variety of activities. There are stations where you can dress up, smell, listen or touch objects.
On the ground floor, a walkable city map features tactile models of key buildings in Kempten. How does the basilica feel, for instance? The tactile objects are accompanied by texts in Braille and relief script. All areas are accessible without steps, either via a ramp or a lift.
There are tours available for visitors with mobility impairments, wheelchair users and those with hearing impairments. One unique feature of the Kempten Museum is the community space, where the people of the city decide which special exhibitions will be displayed. The museum aims to make everyone feel welcome. Admission is free for everyone.
Kempten Museum | Accessibility Information
Deggendorf City Museum
At the Deggendorf City Museum, visitors can learn about how the city and the region have changed and how important the Danube River is for Deggendorf. The museum is fully accessible for people with mobility impairments, wheelchair users, those with visual impairments and those with cognitive disabilities. It is partially accessible for blind visitors and people with hearing impairments. An induction hearing system is available at the ticket desk, and the staff are always on hand to provide personal assistance.
On the ground floor and first floor, there are floor guidance lines and clear, easy-to-read signs to aid orientation. A media guide offers additional information about the exhibition stations. It also allows visitors to explore the exhibition with videos in German Sign Language and texts in simplified language. For people with visual impairments and blind visitors, there are tactile QR codes to scan with their own smartphones, as well as interactive tactile stations with Braille and relief script.
Deggendorf City Museum (only in German) | Accessibility Information
Schwandorf City Museum
The Schwandorf City Museum tells the story of the city of Schwandorf, its industry and its residents in a new and engaging way. Almost all rooms are accessible by wheelchair, rollator or pram. Disabled parking spaces are available nearby, and assistance dogs are, of course, welcome.
When designing the new exhibition texts, special attention was given to ensuring maximum contrast for readability. The room texts and supplementary texts are provided in both German and English. Various tactile and audio stations make the museum visit particularly engaging. Mobile folding stools that anyone can take with them through the exhibition rooms and set up and use as required are available for hire.
Schwandorf City Museum
Archaeological Park Cambodunum
The approximately 2,000-year-old Roman city of Cambodunum can be explored in the Archaeological Park of the same name in Kempten. Here, the city’s Roman past comes to life through an open-air museum featuring various exhibition areas and a sprawling park. The temple district, the baths and the forum provide insights into ancient beliefs, bathing culture and public life at the time.
Visitors can explore the park on their own nearly all year round, thanks to a circular path with interactive stations and the accompanying Cambodunum app. Additionally, a variety of guided tours are offered, including tours in German Sign Language and tactile tours.
Archaeological Park Cambodunum | Accessibility Information
Franconian Open-Air Museum Bad Windsheim
Museum educator Eva-Maria Papini explains the realisation of the inclusive museum using the example of the Franconian Open-Air Museum Bad Windsheim.
