Telefonmuseum Bochum

Current exhibitions

About the museum

It all started in 1991, when the Bochum-Werne telephone exchange was shut down. Instead of scrapping the electromechanical equipment, Telekom employees collected the retired devices and gradually gathered more technology worth preserving. In the mid-1990s, telecommunications engineers founded a friends' association that restored the collection and opened it to the public as a museum from 1996.

The Telefonmuseum is located on the Deutsche Telekom site on Karl-Lange-Straße, near Bochum's telecommunications tower and the stadium. It is run by the nonprofit Förderverein Telekom-Historik Bochum e. V.; the exhibits belong to the association, while the equipment of the analog museum exchange belongs to Telekom. The museum is looked after by volunteers, most of them retired telecommunications specialists.

The guiding idea is to demonstrate as much as possible in working order. The centerpiece is a functioning telephone exchange with selectors built between 1922 and 1958, through which visitors can set up calls themselves on historic telephones and watch the selectors at work. The collection ranges from Morse telegraphs and teleprinters to overhead line and cable construction, private branch exchanges, telephones and mobile communications. Newly restored pieces are added all the time, such as speaking clock machines or a working model of the Gauss-Weber telegraph.

Highlights

• Working telephone exchange with selectors from 1922 to 1958
• Set up your own phone calls on historic telephones
• Morse telegraphs and fully operational teleprinters
• Speaking clock machines and an “Akustisches Museum” (acoustic museum) by phone
• Cable splicer's tent and telecom line-construction equipment
• Free admission

Permanent exhibitions

• Museumsvermittlungsstelle – Working analog telephone exchange with electromechanical selectors, where you can follow the path of a phone call live.
• Sammlung zur Telekommunikation – From Morse telegraphs and teleprinters to overhead lines, cable construction and private branch exchanges, all the way to telephones and mobile communications.

Founded

1996

Operated by

Förderverein Telekom-Historik Bochum e. V.

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Free admission.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Hands-on stations

As part of Bochum's Ferienpass (holiday pass) program, the association offers a free hands-on tour for children aged 12 and up, where they set up phone calls and send messages by teleprinter.

Getting there & parking

By car: A40, exit Bochum-Stadion, Castroper Straße toward Gerthe, then turn right onto Karl-Lange-Straße.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit