Bienenmuseum Duisburg

About the museum

The Bienenmuseum (Bee Museum) grew out of the beekeeping section of a 1952 exhibition on housing, home and garden held at Zinkhüttenplatz. Over the following decades it moved several times, including in 1980 to a school in Wedau and in 1986 to a former school building in Rumeln-Kaldenhausen.

Since 2013, the museum has been housed in a pavilion on the grounds of the Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium (a high school); in 2018 an insect-friendly teaching garden was added there, with a bee nature trail, a bee hotel and a teaching apiary. The museum is run and staffed by volunteers of the Kreisimkerverband Duisburg, the umbrella group of the four local beekeeping clubs, for which it also serves as a meeting place and training venue.

The exhibition traces the development of beekeeping from the Stone Age through medieval forest beekeeping to the present day – with skep and box hives, honey extractors and other beekeeping equipment. Special features include an observation colony of live bees, a collection of wasp and hornet nests, and measuring devices that Fritz Haverkamp developed in the 1980s to illustrate the language of bees. Alongside the exhibition, the museum offers courses for aspiring beekeepers, talks, and environmental education for preschool and school children.

Highlights

• Observation colony of live honeybees
• Historic skep and box hives and beekeeping equipment
• Haverkamp teaching collection on the language of bees
• Wild bee nature trail and insect-friendly museum garden
• Honey from Duisburg neighborhoods to taste and buy

Permanent exhibitions

• Imkereigeschichte und Bienenbiologie – Historical display collection on beekeeping from early times to the present, complemented by the biology of honeybees and wild bees and an observation colony you can watch.

Founded

1952

Operated by

Kreisimkerverband Duisburg e.V.

Admission & discounts

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

According to the museum, accessible (single-level pavilion).

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Kids’ birthday parties

Research and discovery workshops, also for families by appointment; children's birthday parties with catering by advance order. The museum garden has a bee educational trail, a bee hotel and a sandarium.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop

Café Honigbiene; for groups, coffee, cake or breakfast on request by arrangement. Duisburg honey for sale.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties

Rooms for family celebrations such as children's birthday parties and other occasions; seminar room with a collection of hives.

Plan your visit