Nizrhane Abdallah
Dortmund Calling: A Visit to the Deutsches Fußballmuseum / German Football Museum
There is one thing that reminds me of Dortmund, and that is football. Being a long-time fan of the German National Football Team (a.k.a. Die Mannschaft) warrants a visit to one of the shrines – the German Football Museum.
All About Dortmund
Dortmund is one of the major cities in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This city used to be one of the coal- and steel- producing cities in the region during the Prussian Empire. During World War II, Dortmund was left to ruins due to heavy bombing by Allied forces. Now, Dortmund is known as the home of the rival team of FC Bayern München, Borussia Dortmund.
Visiting the Deutsches Fußballmuseum
The idea of visiting Deutsches Fußballmuseum for the first time gave me so much excitement that I couldn’t contain myself. Once I was out of the train station, I already saw it right in front of me. You cannot miss it.
All I needed was to cross the road, and there you are, smile and all. Just come right in with the ticket and prepare yourself to a trip down memory lane. The museum displays are impressive: going up the first phase of the museum, you’ll be greeted with a mural presenting German football fans. The mural itself was reminiscent of Larry Alcala’s “Slice of Life” meets Martin Handford’s “Where’s Waldo?”, which will surely pump you up. The marvellous illustration was done by Diana Köhne.
Going around the two-year-old museum was a trip worth remembering, especially when I reached the World Cup 2014 section. It gave me shivers because the moment when Mario Götze unleashed the winning kick at the 113th minute is still fresh in my mind. I can still recall the five-in-the-morning jump I did after watching the performance. Spectacular!
In the middle of the visit, I got to watch a video presentation featuring the football players themselves – Philipp Lahm, Thomas Müller, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Mario Götze, Christoph Kramer, amongst others. I was overcome with excitement while watching the video — what more would I feel if they were there in person?
One of my personal highlights of the visit was seeing the majestic team bus. It is the same bus that carried the national team at their heroes’ welcome at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin three years ago. Happily, the museum permits visitors to come inside the bus — I can safely say that I was breathing the same air Philipp Lahm and company breathed that time! Squeee!
On a break from the museum visit I went downstairs to go to the washroom. Turns out that that area is also worthy of a look. There were pictures of the team winning the World Cup 2014, and baby pictures of some of the players.
The whole visit itself was a marvel on its own. It gave me the chance to be one step closer to my personal heroes – Die Mannschaft themselves. Here’s hoping I could support them in one of their home games, and be able to snap a selfie with Manuel Neuer or Mats Hummels! If I do get to watch, I will surely write all about it here!
How to Get to Dortmund
Easy! Deutsche Bahn takes people to Dortmund daily. From where I was, in Osnabrück, it took me more than one hour (around one hour and forty minutes) to get to Dortmund via regional trains. If taking the ICE from Osnabrück, it’ll take you one hour and three minutes for only EUR 27.
Side Trips in Dortmund
From the German Football Museum, you can reach the Altstadt within minutes. You can eat your way through it or stop by one of the major churches in Dortmund, the Sankt Reinoldi.
That’s it for now! I’ll leave you with an invitation to play football!
Deutsches Fußballmuseum
Platz der Deutschen Einheit 1
44137 Dortmund
Opening times
Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 6pm
Closed on Mondays
Ticket fee: EUR 17 per person
See Also:
- Visiting Rotterdam
- Pointers for Getting A German Schengen Visa
- Things You Need to Do When You’re In a New City
- On the Bucket List: Cologne Cathedral, Germany
- A Tale of Really Going Up North: The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
- First Impressions on the City of Münster, Germany
- First Impressions on Paderborn, Germany
