German Röntgen Museum

The Deutsches Röntgen-Museum stands in Lennep, a district of Remscheid in the Düsseldorf region, in a former patrician house expanded with modern wings. It sits on Schwelmer Strasse, just metres from the birthplace of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, who discovered X-rays in 1895. The building once belonged to the Röntgen family and now houses a museum shop and a small café area near the entrance. Inside, 2100 square metres of displays trace Röntgen’s work and the history of medical imaging. Visitors can walk through the original cellar and view the exact apparatus he used in 1895. The collection includes 155 000 objects—equipment, personal items and even a glass anatomical model—plus 220 X-ray images made by Röntgen and his wife. Three of these historic plates, showing both medical and material studies, were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World register in 2025. Beyond the main exhibition, the RöLab offers hands-on workshops for school groups and visitors. The museum also hosts around 300 guided tours each year for scientists and the public. Outside, the historic streets of Lennep lead back to Röntgen’s birthplace, completing a visit that links science, history and a quiet corner of the Bergisches Land.