Museum devoted to paper as a material in the paper town of Düren – with a papermaking workshop, a watermark collection, and paper art in a folded-looking new building.
April 25, 2026 – November 8, 2026
The show explores the role paper plays in the world of video games – from sketches and prototypes to packaging and board games to games with a paper look, some of which visitors can play themselves.
Düren looks back on more than 400 years of papermaking tradition; numerous paper companies still shape the region today. The city had a first paper collection from 1939, but it was lost in the war in 1944. The foundation of today's collection was the Erich Schwanke collection, acquired in 1941, with some 28,000 handmade sheets bearing watermarks.
The present Papiermuseum opened in 1990 as part of the neighboring Leopold-Hoesch-Museum in a converted gas station and garage building. In the late 1990s it was given a multimedia concept with hands-on activities centered on the material.
After the cornerstone was laid in 2016, a new building and extension designed by Cologne architect Klaus Hollenbeck was built and opened on September 9, 2018. The facade evokes a folded paper cube, the windows recall watermarks. The permanent exhibition is divided into five sections – from stories through production and recycling to ordering systems, visions, and art. In addition to tens of thousands of watermarks, the collection includes Japanese dyeing stencils (katagami), peep-box pictures, porcelain cards, a model of a paper mill from the Viehöver collection, and paper art collected since the 1980s. The museum and the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum are jointly operated by the city of Düren.
| Adults | €4 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €3School students aged 18 and up, trainees, university students, members of the Förderverein NRW-Stiftung (friends' association), people with disabilities (with ID) |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 17 · Children and young people under 18 free. |
| Seniors | –No senior discount listed. |
| Visitors with disabilities | €3companion free · Reduced admission with ID; companion free. |
| Students & apprentices | €3 |
| Groups | –Prices for groups and school classes on request; school classes (under 18) free. |
| Families | €8 |
| Combination ticket with the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum | €8Reduced €4. |
Free admission: Free for everyone on the first Thursday of every month.
Free admission also for members of the Deutscher Museumsbund, ICOM, and the Museumsverein Düren. Card and mobile payment accepted; gift vouchers available at the ticket desk.
Step-free entrance with automatic doors, elevator and ramps throughout the building; tactile guidance system from the entrance to the ticket desk, tactile markings, selected texts in Braille, tactile floor plan. Accessible parking spaces at nearby Hoeschplatz.
Great for kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 17 |
|---|---|
| Family ticket | €8 |
Family tour with papermaking on the third Sunday of every month (11:30–13:00), papermaking for individual visitors on Sundays; interpretive stations are also easy for children to see and operate. Children's birthday parties with a workshop in the paper workshop (2 hours, max. 10 children).
Weierstraße
Approx. 15-minute walk from Düren main train station (Hauptbahnhof), or bus 211, 221, 286 to “Weierstraße.”
Paid parking
Paid "Hoeschplatz" parking lot in the immediate vicinity, also with bus and accessible parking spaces.
By car via the A4 from the direction of Cologne or Aachen.
Get directionsMuseum café in the neighboring Leopold-Hoesch-Museum (soups and cake, during museum opening hours); museum shop.
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Papermaking for individual visitors every Sunday 13:00–16:00. Public guided tour on the 1st Sunday of every month at 14:00. Group tours (also in foreign languages, with a workshop or as a combined tour with the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum) and school programs: book at +49 2421 25-2515 or b.wolters@dueren.de. |
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