Jüdisches Museum München

This striking glass cube houses Munich's compact but thoughtfully designed Jewish Museum, tracing 900 years of Jewish life in the city across three floors. You'll see medieval artifacts, documents from the Holocaust period, and contemporary exhibits about today's 9,000-strong Jewish community. The permanent collection moves chronologically from the ground floor up, with rotating exhibitions on the top floor that often tackle current issues around Jewish identity and culture.

The museum feels intimate rather than overwhelming, with audio guides that add crucial context to the displays. The ground floor covers medieval Jewish settlement in Munich, while the second floor confronts the Nazi period honestly without sensationalizing it. The top floor's temporary exhibitions are often the most engaging, featuring contemporary Jewish artists or exploring themes like Jewish humor or food traditions. Large windows throughout the building frame views of the adjacent Ohel Jakob Synagogue.

At EUR 6, it's excellent value, though you can see everything worthwhile in about 90 minutes. Most visitors rush through the medieval section, but the artifacts here are genuinely rare. The museum shop sells quality books and Judaica, not tourist tat. Skip the basement level unless you're deeply interested in archaeological fragments, the real stories are upstairs.