Munich really shines in the spring and summer. But some days, even in the warmer seasons it rains. Hard.
When the weather is bad, it can be tricky to figure out what to do with out of town (or out of country) visitors and even harder to figure out what to do with kids.
A friend and I had recently planned to meet with our kids at a playground. The weather took a turn for the worse and she suggested the German Hunting and Fishing Museum of Munich (Deutschen Jagd- und Fischereimuseum München in German).
I’d walked past this museum on the Fußgängerzone a million times and never gave it a second thought. And to be honest, as an adult on my own, I probably wouldn’t spend a lot of time here. It’s a small, modest museum dealing with a subject I’m not particularly interested in.
But with kids, in the rain, it’s brilliant. The small size makes it easy to navigate. The reception area features a full sized taxidermied bear. In fact the whole place is full of taxidermied animals. Note: Might not be the best place for animal rights people, vegans or vegetarians.
The first level as a bunch of diorama exhibits featuring the local flora and fauna in recreations of their natural habitat. It’s a little hokey, but little kids love it. There’s also a little fox den they can crawl into as well as a hunters cabin you can peek into.
The second level of the museum is where the real fun is. It’s a kind of taxidermied petting zoo. There are all kinds of stuffed critters the kids can pet.
Adjacent to the stuffed animals is recreation of a lake floor complete with stone floors, fish, water projections on the floor of the section entrance that respond to steps and movement, a ship and soft fish blocks.
The top floor is a huge hall full of trophy head or trophy head replicas lining the ceiling. If I was ever going to host a ‘Downton Abbey: Back From the Hunt’ theme party, I would host it here.
The most interesting exhibit on this level are the antique hunting sleds all the way in the back. Also don’t miss the partial Narwal skull on one of the side walls.
You can easily spend the better part of an afternoon with a small kid or kids starting at around 18 months. The other huge plus is that it is rarely crowded and I’ve never experienced a line to get in (contrast with the Deutsches Museum especially when it’s raining – nightmare.)
wahlmuenchnerin.com 