Technische Sammlungen Dresden

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Technische Sammlungen trace their origins to the Polytechnisches Museum, founded in 1966 to promote general technical education. Important core holdings of today's photo and film technology collection were acquired from 1957 onward by the Museum für Photographie and the Polytechnisches Museum; in 1992 the equipment collection of VEB Pentacon was added.

The museum is housed in the Ernemann-Bau in the Striesen district. The entrepreneur Heinrich Ernemann founded a camera factory here in 1898, which was expanded in the 1920s with a functional reinforced-concrete building with a distinctive tower designed by the architects Emil Högg and Richard Müller. Later Zeiss Ikon and VEB Pentacon manufactured here, and the tower became Pentacon's trademark. After production ended in 1990, the city took over the listed building; in the early 1990s the renamed museum moved in.

Today the museum combines the history of technology and industry with science communication. Key topics are the "Kamerastadt Dresden" (Dresden as a camera city), calculating machines and typewriters, computers, and audio technology. The Erlebnisland Mathematik, with more than 100 hands-on stations developed together with TU Dresden, draws large crowds; there is also the "Wellenreiter" experiment area, photo exhibitions, and a museum cinema.

From November 2, 2026, the building will close for an energy-efficiency renovation. During construction, the interactive science center offerings are to move to the Landhaus on Pirnaischer Platz; the opening there is planned for the second quarter of 2027.

Highlights

• Erlebnisland Mathematik with more than 100 hands-on stations
• Cameras from the "Kamerastadt Dresden", from Ernemann to Praktica
• Calculating machines and GDR computers in "Denk, Maschine!"
• Recording studio and historic mechanical musical instruments
• Tower café with panoramic views in the Ernemann tower

Permanent exhibitions

• Erlebnisland Mathematik – More than 100 play and experiment stations, developed with TU Dresden, make mathematics tangible; a separate area is designed for children aged 3 to 8.
• Welt im Kasten. Foto – Kino – Video – The history of technical image media from the peep box to the smartphone, with a focus on Dresden's camera industry.
• Denk, Maschine! Typewriter & Elektronengehirne – The development of mechanical calculating and writing, from Leibniz's calculating machine through office machines from Saxony to GDR computers.

Founded

1966

Operated by

Museen der Stadt Dresden

Director

Roland Schwarz

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission on Fridays from 12:00

Tickets only at the museum ticket desk, no online sales. Free admission with, among others, the Dresden-Pass, for participants in the DLR_School_Lab, and for guests of the tower café (café area only). Guided tours an additional €3 (school/university students €2).

Accessibility

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

Automatic entrance doors; doors inside the building do not open automatically (staff will help). All exhibition areas up to the seventh floor are accessible by elevator, except the exhibition in the Ernemann tower and the MACHwerk. Wheelchair-accessible restrooms with baby changing facilities in the foyer and on the second and third floors; accessible parking space on Junghansstraße. Folding stools and strollers free of charge at the ticket desk. Stairs without step-edge markings; alarms are audible only. Tactile model of the building with audio information in the foyer.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities
• Kids’ birthday parties

Interactive Erlebnisland Mathematik (Mathematics Adventure Land), Sunday family brain-teasers in the MACHwerk, holiday program, escape room "Katze Q," and birthday parties. Strollers can be borrowed free of charge at the ticket desk, baby changing tables in the foyer and on the second and third floors.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers
• Wi-Fi

Turmcafé (Speisewerk) on the seventh floor with panoramic views, Tue–Fri 11:00–17:00, Sat/Sun/public holidays 11:00–18:00, also without a museum ticket. Museum shop in the foyer. Free coat check and lockers; bags, backpacks, and jackets must be checked. Only the special exhibition room is air-conditioned.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events

Up to 199 guests.

Emanuel-Goldberg-Saal on the sixth floor (about 400 m², up to 199 people, stage and technical equipment), museum cinema with 79 historic cinema seats, Benno-Thorsch conference room in the tower (up to 20 people), and tower café (200 m², 30–60 people, private parties outside opening hours); catering through Speisewerk. Note: The building closes for renovation from November 2, 2026.

Plan your visit