Museums, great and small

[EastWest Gal]

Many small museums are worth the visit as well. Wills House in Gettysburg was a more moving experience than the Battlefield tour. Lincoln spent the night there prior to giving the Gettysburg address. There are several of Lincoln’s letters on display there.

Our local town has a small museum. There are books about the development and history of the town, even discussing when some of the buildings were built. One community band in which I participate was founded in 1854 and participated in the Civil War and the centennial parade in Philadelphia. The band has it’s own display in the museum, including our bass drum manufactured in 1914. The drum was finally retired about 10 years ago and now is on display in the museum.

Seeking out historical societies locally can give you a more intimate perspective when you travel.

Most of these small museums are free, but you can donate when you visit.

 

[braumeister]

I was most impressed by two small museums last year. One was the Vasa Museum in Stockholm (it's on the OP list). The other was the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon.

 

[SpartacusSchmartacus]

Thanks for this ... if they should add one more it has to be the Cairo museum of Egyptology.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Berlin’s Museum Island is also worthy of a multi-day visit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_Island

 

[6miths]

A few more to add to the list, depending on your interests:

1. The World War I Museum in Kansas City.

2. The Military Museum in Brussels. Wow. DH and I were going to spend the morning there but ended up going out for lunch and coming back- acres of planes, tanks, uniforms, weapons, etc. from the last few centuries.

3. The Ignatz Semmelweiss Museum in Budapest. DH and I had each read of him separately and when we stumbled across it in our wanderings, we said in unison. :The Ignatz Semmelweis Museum!" (Yes, we were a match made in heaven.) Semmelweiss, a doctor, noticed that there was a lower rate of childbed fever, which frequently killed new mothers, among women whose babies had been delivered by midwives. He was ostracized for this theory that doctors, who would go from treating a fatal case of TB to delivering a baby, ought to change into a clean smock and wash their hands first. The museum is the house where he was born and lived most of his life.

Semmelweiss is one of my heroes and a great cautionary tale. Not many of my students escape being told of his story. Several very important lessons to take away. It took another hundred years and the works of Pasteur, Koch, Lister and others to show just how right he was.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

A few more to add to the list, depending on your interests:

1. The World War I Museum in Kansas City.

2. The Military Museum in Brussels. Wow. DH and I were going to spend the morning there but ended up going out for lunch and coming back- acres of planes, tanks, uniforms, weapons, etc. from the last few centuries.

Another nice one in Brussels is Autoworld, especially if you're intrigued by cars we never see in the States. I remember an extensive collection of Panhards ... a current exhibit is 120 years of Renault.

On the subject of car museums (I love 'em), I'd recommend the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Auburn, Indiana. Not only are the cars works of art -- the building they're housed in is an art deco showplace.

 

[deserat]

I've been to almost all of the museums on that list except for the ones in Asia and South Africa. My faves for museums are the Orsay (Paris), Cluny (Paris), Les Invalides (Paris - a true armory with a large roomful of armor ) Norton-Simon (Pasadena), 'original' Getty (the villa overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu), the Huntington Gardens (Pasadena), the Smithsonian (Washington DC), Thyssen (in Madrid), Dali museum (St Petersburg, FL, USA), Kunst museum (in Bern, Switzerland - had the largest collections of Klee and Hodler - loved it), National Archaeological Museum in Naples (Italy - has all of the artifacts from Pompeii and Ercolano - for the finance types here, they found the finance records of a household and business that had over 20-30 years of records - they were able to figure out inflations, the relative costs of goods and the geographical range of trade at that time), Uffizi (Florence-Boticelli!), Galleria dell'Accademia (David by Michelangelo!), Roman Museum in Cologne (Roman glass and amazing mosaics), Louisiana (Denmark) and the national museum of Denmark (had leftover piles of weapons from wars in ancient times).

I would like to see the Hermitage and get to Asia to see some of their museums.

 

[chilkoot]

Coincidentally I just this week visited the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. I know cars are a big interest for many on this board and this is a very impressive collection. The guide we had was very well-versed. Just wanted to give a shout-out.

 

[W2R]

Another quirky and highly rated museum: Toilet Seat Museum

Where but Texas?

Just teasin'.

We have been to the WW II museum here in New Orleans, and yes, it is terrific. We went not too long after it opened, before Katrina, and on that day there were a number of very aged WW II vets that happened to be visiting there too. Some of them informally told us of their memories during conversations as we saw various exhibits, and that made the experience even more touching. Brought a tear to several eyes, including mine and some of theirs. We stayed there for hours, saw the various films they show and attended some lectures in the museum, as well as the exhibits which are simply outstanding. It is a very, very well done museum.

One museum here that I have never been to, but want to see, is the Confederate Museum.

Thanks for this ... if they should add one more it has to be the Cairo museum of Egyptology.

Yes, absolutely!

 

[REWahoo]

Where but Texas?

Yep.

Barney, the museum owner, was the sole caregiver for his wife who was in poor health for many years. With limited financial means and no ability to travel, I think he started decorating toilet seats in his garage just to have something to pass the time. When the word got around that he had a garage full of toilet seat art, people started coming by to see it, thus his "museum" was born.

His wife died a few years ago and they have no children. Barney, who is 97, has been trying to find someone he could gift his collection to and keep the museum going, but the last I heard there were no takers.

 

[Texas Proud]

I have been to a number of these listed... some I could have gone to but did not....


I am surprised that the Hermitage is so low as it is one of the most impressive museums I have been too... and to top it off, if you took ALL of the paintings and exhibits out of it you still would want to visit it just for the building as the ceilings and walls are painted and it is a beautiful building...


One that impressed me was the miniature museum in Kiev... it is a small museum with really small man made things... you have to look through microscopes to see some of what they have....


Museum of Miniature. Museum of Miniature of Nikolay Siadristy in Kiev. Kiev museums.

 

[LOL!]

I forgot about the Museum of Science and Industry.. Where else can you tour a WWII German submarine?

Why in the Bavarian Film Studios in Munich! Also another one at the Deutsches Museum also in Munich. (Maybe the latter one is pre-WWII.)

 

[Midpack]

I’ve only been to two on that list, the Louvre and the Vatican Museum, and my parents took me to both as a teen. I’ve gone to none from that list myself as an adult.

However I’ve seen way too many other museums, castles, palaces, cathedrals, concert/opera houses, and other historic places along with dozens of natural wonders to list in Europe, Asia and North America.

 

[6miths]

I have been to a number of these listed... some I could have gone to but did not....


I am surprised that the Hermitage is so low as it is one of the most impressive museums I have been too... and to top it off, if you took ALL of the paintings and exhibits out of it you still would want to visit it just for the building as the ceilings and walls are painted and it is a beautiful building...


One that impressed me was the miniature museum in Kiev... it is a small museum with really small man made things... you have to look through microscopes to see some of what they have....

Museum of Miniature. Museum of Miniature of Nikolay Siadristy in Kiev. Kiev museums.

Kiev is a beautiful city and if you are there one should also go to the Great Patriotic War Museum. The one in Moscow is spectacular as well. No one does WW2 museums quite like the Russians.

 

[Moemg]

My favorite museum is The Smithsoniam Museum of American History . It has a little bit of everything .

 

[Walt34]

Frank and I were just talking yesterday about how maybe sometime we might want to see the Smithsonian aerospace museum (if we ever decide to go anywhere at all). He has seen it but would like to go again, and I have never seen it.

I've been there several times, both the one in downtown D.C. and the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. When I was dating DW one of the dates was the downtown museum. (The museum is free and the Metro station is a block or two away IIRC.)

Both are well worth the effort if you're going to make the journey. For me, downtown was about a hour away and where we are now the Chantilly location is still about an hour. If possible, allow at least a full day for each if you're really into detail. Otherwise, a stroll through will be a half day.

Web site: https://airandspace.si.edu/

 

[Freedom56]

The list is missing some great museums:

1- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
2- The Vatican Museums
3- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
4- The Acropolis Museum, Athens
5- Smithsonian, Washington DC
7- National Art Gallery - Ottawa Canada
8- Statens Museum for Kunst - Copenhagen

 

[Bestwifeever]

The list is missing some great museums:

1- Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
2- The Vatican Museums
3- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
4- The Acropolis Museum, Athens
5- Smithsonian, Washington DC
7- National Art Gallery - Ottawa Canada
8- Statens Museum for Kunst - Copenhagen

The Vatican Museums actually are 5 on the list in the OP.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Article title is misleading, should be "Must See ART Museums", and even then it is missing Tate Modern, The Louvre and probably some others - but I'm not a big artsie...

...

The Louvre is actually 4 on the list in the OP.

 

[ncbill]

I find it hard to fathom that the "Museum of Broken Relationships" made this list but the Smithsonian and the British Museum didn't.

I got to work on the National Museum of the Marine Corps building at Quantico, just south of DC. The exhibit designers did a fantastic job of immersing the visitors in the exhibits. I had an extra hour between meetings so I wandered around. More than once I was sure I had crossed the velvet rope somewhere and was in an exhibit.

Plus, it's free.

Don't forget Navy's museum on the Washington Navy Yard.

Practically empty when we visited last month since it's off the beaten path & you have to get a pass at the visitor's center just inside the gate (if you don't have a military/DOD ID)

 

[Breedlove]

I like mechanical things , but once you see one of the masters you become awed . Also Corrie Ten boom and Anne Frank are great
How about the
Henry Ford Museum
Airforce Museum in Dayton
Have not been to either one in years but years ago when I was there it was cool . Especially the Airforce Museum

 

[KCGeezer]

Interesting and wide ranging areas of discovery represented here. Glad to see so many responses.

Although I’ve never been, I’ll stand up for the Museum of Broken Relationships. Sounds unique, kind of like this one.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

DW went to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto and raved about it. And she says I have the shoe fetish.

 

[PawPrint53]

I'm not well traveled, but I actually have been to one on the list--the Getty Villa. My favorite museum is the Spy Museum in DC. It's just fun. My DH and I often go to county museums while traveling in the western U.S. Really, you just can't see too many barbed wire or key exhibits!

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Speaking of museums, I've visited the Smithsonian many times over the years since I was a boy. DW and I went last year and I was left with a definite impression that it's been "dumbed down" quite a bit. I can't give any concrete examples just now, but the signs for each exhibit were much shorter and not nearly as in depth as I was used to (this was the American History Museum). I visited a gallery on the lowest level that dealt with power plants, and it was unchanged from many years ago and confirmed my impression.

Anyone else think this?