The Best Museums & Galleries in Dresden

Despite its clumsy name, the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum presents a superb family day out, and one with an interesting scientific bent. Firstly, the wonderful Functionalist architecture, created in the 1930s, has been extensively restored and updated to create a modern museum. The permanent Human Adventure follows its science focus so visitors better understand bodies and feelings, for example – check out the Transparent Woman, a fantastic talking point for kids and adults alike. There is also a terrifically interactive Children’s Museum, a language exhibition and various special exhibitions.

Originally built in the 1870s, the Bundeswehr Museum of Military History was renovated and extended in 2011 by US architect Daniel Liebeskind. The addition of Liebeskind’s transparent arrowhead wonderfully transformed the narrative of its neoclassical façade. The exhibition in Liebeskind’s extension is thematic rather than chronological, and it explores subjects such as ‘war and memory’ and ‘animals and military’. The old building explores the hugely challenging theme of German military history chronologically, from the Middle Ages to the present day, including the two World Wars.

Throughout Germany, a visit to a local Stadtmuseum (city museum) is often the best way to get a grasp on the local people, culture and history. Though around 40 per cent of Dresden’s City Museum artefacts were lost during the Second World War, thousands of photos, clothing, furniture and other long-standing or newly acquired artefacts take visitors through Dresden’s history – from its early settlement 800 years ago, through royal domination, industrialisation, dictatorships and the 1989 revolution.