DB Museum Koblenz

Going to a train museum courtesy of a special train: DB Museum Koblenz is a branch of the main one in Nuremberg. It’s a place for all train fans.

Koblenz is connected to Cologne via both regional and intercity trains. But I always wanted to take one of those special event trains. These are trains with exclusive tickets and often museum trains. My train was announced as the TEE (Trans Europ Express), but the locomotive wasn’t from the TEE.

Part of the fun was that the employees wore older uniforms too. The train was headed directly to the train museum in Koblenz-Lützel without a stop at Koblenz Central Station. I had a whole “Abteil” (six seats) for myself.

Arriving at the DB Museum Koblenz

I haven’t been to the main museum in Nuremberg, but even the Koblenz branch is quite big. There are plenty of old locomotives formerly used by Deutsche Bahn or the earlier Reichsbahn. Since it was a special day (the “summer festival”), various vendors were selling miniature trains at the museum.

Now, I owned a miniature train as a kid, but only a very basic set. I’ve also been to the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg. Despite the latter’s popularity, owning a miniature train has become a hobby for usually older men.

Other than locomotives, various train cars are exhibited and free to enter. The seats have changed quite a bit over the years, the ashtray was removed and of course there is no way to charge your iPhone in these train cars.

Of course, the first thing that most people think about when they hear “old train” is an actual steam locomotive. The museum has one of these too and it was active when I visited.

On most tracks there is no traffic though and if you over ever want to pose for a selfie on a train track, the DB Museum Koblenz or other train museums is the safest place to do so.

Other branches

Deutsche Bahn operates three train museums in Nuremberg, Koblenz and Halle. The branches in Koblenz and Halle are only open on Saturday.

Note

I visited the museum before the pandemic, hence people without face masks. Currently (November 2021) a negative corona test or a proof of vaccination/recovery is required for ages 15+. An appointment is not necessary.

DB Museum Koblenz: Location + more info