February 20, 2026 – January 21, 2027
Games-Geschichte(n). Vom Gesellschaftsspiel zum Computerspiel (und zurück)
The exhibition traces how board games and video games have influenced each other – from the game table to the screen and back again.
Spielzeugmuseum Nürnberg
One of the world's leading toy museums: dolls, tin toys, model trains, and modern classics in Nuremberg's old town.
Opening hoursAdmission from €7.50 Wheelchair accessible Café
Current exhibitions
About the museum
The core of the museum is the collection of Lydia and Paul Bayer. As early as the 1920s, Lydia Bayer began collecting dolls, dollhouses, toy shops, and tin toys, at a time when such things were hardly considered to have any cultural-historical value. After her death, her daughter of the same name, an art historian with a doctorate, opened the “Museum Lydia Bayer” in Würzburg in 1962.
In 1965, at the initiative of cultural affairs head Hermann Glaser, the city of Nuremberg acquired the collection. It was given a new home in a former patrician house on Karlstraße; the Spielzeugmuseum opened on February 5, 1971, to coincide with the International Toy Fair. Dr. Lydia Bayer directed the museum until 1994.
The location ties in with Nuremberg's long tradition as a toy city, stretching from the Middle Ages through the tin toy industry of the 19th and 20th centuries to today's Toy Fair. On about 1,400 square meters, the museum today shows toys from several centuries up to the present, including classics such as Lego, Barbie, Playmobil, and Matchbox. The holdings comprise more than 80,000 inventoried objects.
The museum also includes the activity area “Kids on Top,” a museum playground with historical play equipment, and a summer café in the courtyard. More than 5.5 million people have visited the museum since it opened.
Highlights
- Lydia Bayer Cabinet with dollhouses and doll rooms
- Tin toys and model trains by Märklin, Bing, and Schuco
- Kruseler doll and Käthe Kruse dolls
- Wooden houses by Lyonel Feininger
- Toys since 1945: Lego, Barbie, Playmobil, Matchbox
- Children's area “Kids on Top” and museum playground
Permanent exhibitions
- Spielzeug seit 1945 – Permanent exhibition section on toys from the postwar period to the present, from tin cars to Lego, Barbie, and Playmobil.
- Welt der Technik – Section on technical toys such as trains, vehicles, and models, reflecting industrial history in miniature.
- Founded
- 1971
- Operated by
- Stadt Nürnberg (Museen der Stadt Nürnberg)
- Director
- Dr. Manuel Seitenbecher
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €7.50 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €2.50Children and young people aged 4 to 18, school students, university students, people in voluntary service |
| Children & teens | €2.50free up to age 3 · Under 4 free |
| Seniors | –No senior discount listed |
| Students & apprentices | €2.50 |
| Groups (15+ people) | €7 per personGuided tours by advance booking only |
| Families | €8Small group ticket: one adult with up to 3 children under 18 |
| School classes / integration courses (per person) | €2 |
| Holders of the Nürnberg, Fürth, Erlangen, or Schwabach Pass | €2 |
| Day ticket upgrade | €4Free admission to other municipal museums in Nuremberg on the same day |
| Audio guide | €1Also available as a children's audio guide (German/English) |
Annual passes for the municipal museums between €10 and €60. Costumed tours and special tours cost extra.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible
- Elevator
- Accessible restroom
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
Step-free entrance with automatic door, elevator, accessible restroom on the first floor, two loaner wheelchairs (child and adult size), tactile floor guidance system for blind and visually impaired visitors. Certified under “Reisen für Alle” (accessibility verified).
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
| Time needed | approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 3 |
| Family ticket | €8 · Small group ticket: one adult with up to 3 children under 18 |
- Family tours & workshops
- Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
- Hands-on stations
- Playground / play area
- Kids’ birthday parties
"Kids on Top" play area in the attic (toy store, dollhouse, drawing and crafts, touch boxes) and museum playground in the courtyard with games from earlier times; children's audio guide. Children's birthday parties (ages 4 and up or 8 and up) and kindergarten programs via the KPZ.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Tram 4, 6, 10 to Hallertor; bus 36 to Weintraubengasse; U1 to Lorenzkirche (Hauptmarkt exit).
By car
Parking available
No parking on site; across the street is the Hauptmarkt parking garage (Augustinerstraße 4, 525 spaces, open around the clock), entrance from Westtorgraben through the Hallertor.
Amenities & dining
- Café
- Restaurant: not available
- Coat check
- Lockers
Summer café in the historic courtyard (roughly May to October), accessible even without a museum visit. Lockers with a deposit coin.
Events & venue rental
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Plan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| Audio guide | yes (DE, EN, FR, ES, IT, CS, PL, RU, ZH, JA) |
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Audio guide with 48 stations (about 120 min.), children's audio guide with 30 stations. Group tours (60 or 90 min.) with registration, also outside opening hours for an additional fee. Dogs other than service dogs are not allowed. According to the museum, visits last between one hour and a whole day. |
