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Red Dot Design Museum

Welcome to the world of design!

Discover the world's largest exhibition of contemporary design.

Plan your visit now!

Unique: The Red Dot Design Museum in Essen

More than 1,500 products

Touch and try!

Design trail

Current product design in a historical setting

What characterises good design?

The Red Dot Design Museum is designed in such a way that visitors have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with some general principles of good design at the beginning of their visit – the "Design Fundamentals".

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Our Tours

On a tour of discovery at the Red Dot Design Museum

On Sundays, we offer half-hour public tours (in German) at 2 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. respectively. Participation is free of charge (prior registration is recommended).

Visitor testimonials

  • A fantastic place for lovers of culture and aesthetics. An overview of design trends and an exhibition of design milestones. All in fascinating post-industrial interiors.
    Adam, May 2024 via Google
  • Absolutely impressive, pure aesthetics at the highest level with great attention to detail. Recommendation level: 10/10.
    Eskay C., June 2024 via Google

At a glance:

Outstanding design against a historic industrial backdrop

The fascinating atmosphere of the Red Dot Design Museum Essen is created by the contrast between old and new, industrial architecture and product culture. The museum is housed in the boiler house of the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex and is therefore located in the centre of one of the most important industrial monuments of the 20th century, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.

Today, the building, which was remodelled by British star architect Lord Norman Foster, houses robots, coffee machines and furniture as well as bicycles, computers and a gyrocopter suspended from the ceiling.

Hands-on Museum

At the Design Museum in Essen, everything is a little different from "normal" museums.  For example, many of the products on display can be touched and tried out. 

FAQ

Design is not art!
Nor is design art that makes itself useful!

“Art produces originals. Design produces series. 
Art is there for its own sake. 
Design is an order-related service. 
Design needs plenty of objectivity. 
Art is subjective. 
Design makes intelligent compromises. 
Art excludes them. 
Design is geared towards the feasible. 
Art focuses on utopia. 
Design must be comprehensible and understandable. 
Art does not. 
Design is based on established conventions. 
Art leaves them behind.”

Kurt Weidemann
1922–2011, German graphic designer and typographer

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