Deutsches Fahrradmuseum

The Deutsches Fahrradmuseum stands in Staatsbad Brückenau, a district of Bad Brückenau in Unterfranken. It occupies the former Villa Füglein, a Jugendstil building constructed in 1908 as an additional guesthouse. The villa served as a family-run pension until 1972, then passed to the Free State of Bavaria before being bought and restored by Ivan Sojc and Mona Buchmann. In 2004 the building reopened as a museum dedicated to cycling history. The collection began with Sojc’s private holdings and now fills two floors with more than 230 bicycles.

The museum’s holdings form Germany’s most comprehensive bicycle collection and one of Europe’s largest. Exhibits trace the evolution from the Laufmaschine of about 1820 to modern E-bikes. A 500-square-metre permanent display covers road racing, children’s pedal cars, motorised bicycles, military cycles, advertising, accessories, club history and the relationship between art and cycling. Three dioramas, a recreated 19th-century bicycle shop, a 1930s workshop and a clubroom add context to the machines.

Visitors walk through rooms arranged chronologically and thematically. The Jugendstil villa itself, with its original fittings, provides a fitting backdrop. Outside, the spa quarter of Staatsbad Brückenau offers tree-lined walks and historic spa architecture. The museum’s displays include Hochräder, safety bicycles and early motorcycles, alongside posters, tools and club memorabilia. A small reference library invites deeper study of cycling culture.