Deutsches Automatenmuseum, Coin-operated machine museum in Espelkamp, Germany
The Deutsches Automatenmuseum is a museum displaying historical mechanical and electronic gaming and entertainment machines from several decades. The collection contains about 1800 devices overall, with roughly 200 exhibits on view including music boxes, gaming machines, pinball games, and various other automated entertainment equipment.
The museum began as a private collection starting with an AMI B music box in 1985 and was officially established in 1995. In 2007, it expanded significantly by acquiring 650 machines from Jean-Claude Baudot of Paris, a major addition that brought rare lottery devices and historical gaming wheels into the collection.
The exhibits show chocolate vendors, fortune-telling devices, mechanical music boxes, pinball machines, and gaming machines that show how people entertained themselves with automated devices across different eras. Visitors see what kinds of machines attracted people's attention and money during their leisure time throughout the decades.
The museum operates Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 to 17:00 and on weekends and holidays from 11:00 to 18:00. The collection is presented in an organized way that makes it easy to walk through and understand the different types of machines and how they evolved.
The Paris collection added in 2007 includes rare lottery devices and gaming wheels that are seldom seen anywhere else today. These machines show a different gaming culture that was especially common in France and other European countries during earlier times.
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