Museum Five Continents, Ethnographic museum in Lehel district, Munich, Germany
Museum Five Continents is an ethnographic collection in the Lehel district that displays art and everyday objects from around the world. The exhibition spans multiple levels with over 200,000 objects from different regions and periods.
The collection was founded in 1862 as a royal ethnographic collection, reflecting European interest in distant cultures. The building itself was designed by Eduard Riedel in the Maximilianstil, a distinctive architectural style of the 1800s.
Objects from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania fill the rooms, ranging from masks and clothing to tools and religious items. Visitors can observe how different cultures approached similar needs through distinct artistic and practical traditions.
The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday and sits on Maximilianstraße in the city center. The building is fully wheelchair accessible, and the exhibition is organized across multiple floors for easy navigation.
The collection holds one of the oldest preserved kayaks from North America, visible in its original form to visitors. Alongside these Arctic treasures, head trophies from Brazil show the range of cultural practices on display.
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