Neanderthal Museum

In August 1856 two workers in a limestone quarry east of Düsseldorf were clearing out a small cave and tossed a few bones down the slope with the clay. Those bones gave a whole human species its name. The Neanderthal Museum stands just a few hundred metres from the find site and tells the story of humankind from its beginnings to today, with life-size Neanderthals, a tower at the find spot and an enclosure full of Ice Age animals.

History: how a valley became a global term

The valley of the Düssel was originally just called "das Gesteins", the rocks: a narrow gorge almost a kilometre long with tall limestone cliffs. In the mid-19th century it was renamed after Joachim Neander, the hymn writer behind "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty", who was a school rector in Düsseldorf from 1674 to 1679 and liked to walk here. Industrial limestone quarrying then made the gorge disappear almost completely.

The quarry owner first took the bones from the Little Feldhof Cave for those of a cave bear. Johann Carl Fuhlrott, a teacher from Elberfeld, recognised them as belonging to a prehistoric human, a bold claim made just three years before Darwin published his theory of evolution. Opponents such as Rudolf Virchow held back recognition for decades. The original fossil, Neanderthal 1, has been kept in the LVR-LandesMuseum in Bonn since 1877. A museum opened in the valley in 1938; today's building by Günter Zamp Kelp, Julius Krauss and Arno Brandlhuber followed in 1996. Around 170,000 people visit each year.

What to see

• The exhibition: Inside the oval building a step-free ramp spirals upwards. Life-size figures show Neanderthals and other ancestors; the most famous is "Mr N", a Neanderthal in a suit who barely stands out. An audio guide in German and English is included in the ticket.
• New since October 2026: For the 30th anniversary three sections were redesigned: the discovery story with a walk-in cave, "Tools and Knowledge", and a new finale on what connects all humans.
• Höhlenblick tower: About 400 metres from the museum, the tower stands at the rediscovered find site. At the top you are level with the destroyed cave. In the late 1990s archaeologists found more bone fragments here under metres of quarry debris.
• Ice Age game park: Follow the "MenschenSpuren" art trail to the enclosure with European bison and back-bred aurochs and tarpan horses.
• Stone Age playground: right opposite the museum, with a picnic area for parents.

Good to know

Since 2000 it has been clear that a second Neanderthal lay at the site, now called Neanderthal 2. The old museum building in the woods now houses the Stone Age workshop. Film fans may know the valley from Helge Schneider's comedy "00 Schneider", in which a Neanderthal escapes from the old museum. From 21 November 2026 the special exhibition "PLAYMOBIL Time Travel Neanderthal" tells human history in toy form.

Opening hours and prices (as of October 2026)

• Open: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–18:00, daily during NRW school holidays and on public holidays. Closed 24, 25 and 31 December.
• Museum and tower: adults €14, children (6–16) €9.50, ages 4–5 €8. The family rate (from one adult with a child) is cheaper; adults then pay €11.90.
• Tower only: adults €4.50.

Allow two to three hours for the museum and tower, half a day with the game park and playground.

Getting there

The S28 suburban train (Kaarster See – Düsseldorf – Wuppertal) runs every half hour to Neanderthal station right next to the museum. The museum is on Talstraße between Erkrath and Mettmann.

Tripto tip

After the museum, walk to the find site and on along the art trail to the game park. On the way you notice how much quarrying changed the valley: where you now stroll through a gentle meadow, rock walls such as the Rabenstein, almost 40 metres high, once rose.