Mettmann, Germany: The Neanderthal Museum

Victor really wanted to visit the Neanderthal Museum that's located in the Neander Valley, the site of the 1856 discovery of the first specimen of Homo Neanderthalensis. The thought of this museum didn't excite me. I pictured moldy wax figures in weary life-sized dioramas like some that I've seen in American natural history museums. But Victor's enthusiasm for seeing the Neanderthal Museum convinced me to go along. He had lived in this area of Germany as a child and had happy memories of family visits to the Neander Valley, long before the museum was built there. I am so glad I joined Victor & Mary Jane on this jaunt- it is a fabulous museum!

Upon entering the museum you pass an amiable Neanderthal gent leaning on his spear. He's so lifelike, you expect him to make a pitch for the copious gift shop that's off to his right (I liked this appealing guy so much, I bought a refrigerator magnet of his image for Jim!) There are other wonderful "dermoplastic reconstructions" of Neanderthals throughout the museum, including one fellow who's dressed in a business suit and tie. He's leaning on a wall in the museum, looking very much like just another visitor. This is a museum with a sense of humor :-)

Mary Jane with the Neanderthal businessman.

The Neanderthal Museum features a great exhibition on human evolution that starts with the big discovery in 1856 and winds its way through the evolution of human development, right up to the present. Human migration patterns are explained, and there are sections titled Life and Survival, Tools and Knowledge, Myth and Religion, Environment and Nourishment, and Communication and Society.

One exhibit illustrated the comparison of human population in a set area: 10, 000 years ago, in 1850, and in 2006. 

There are written German, French, and English explanations of everything in the museum, and audio guides in various languages are available as well. And of course there is a little restaurant serving wursts, German beers (one named Neanderthal!) and a variety of those delicious cakes, tarts, and other sweets that the Germans are famous for. We didn't eat there, but on the way out of the museum I stopped in the gift shop again to pick up a bottle of Neanderthal beer for Jim. Too bad he had to work that day, he would have LOVED this unique, very interesting museum.