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Odysseum

Odysseum

Science MuseumsChildren's Museums
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
About
Duration: 1-2 hours
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3.0
3.0 of 5 bubbles364 reviews
Excellent
93
Very good
80
Average
53
Poor
39
Terrible
99

These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
This service may contain translations provided by Google. Google disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to translations, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from forgery.

Saskia B
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2024 • Family
My personal opinion for you. It was said that the whole show was planned for 2 hours. But it only lasted 1 hour. We thought that we could do something in each room and do a bit of magic ourselves. But that's not true because we were only led through 7 rooms, told something about them and then sent to the next room. In one room a few spray-painted chairs, also known as bulky waste, were simply stacked on top of each other. At the end of the tour we came to the souvenir shop where a simple cuddly toy costs 28 euros. Even the key rings alone cost 16 euros. A waste of money. We were really looking forward to the exhibition, but here they just rip you off. Even a simple souvenir photo costs 14.50 euros.....The queue and wait for things to continue takes longer than the entire exhibition.
Kind regards, Lotta, 12 years old
Google
Written 4 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Dilara K
Muenster, Germany83 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2024 • Couples
We bought the tickets months in advance and traveled over 100km with great anticipation. Despite arriving on time, we had to wait 40 minutes, only to be ushered through the rooms for 30 minutes in a huge group. You carry the magic wands around, you don't need them for anything and they don't really work. If you still feel like shopping afterwards, you can treat yourself to a small butterbeer for 12 euros or a magnet for 9 euros...

Save your money! You don't feel any magic or HP spirit. You don't even see the characters! It's as if someone hadn't bought the licenses.
Google
Written 7 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Na S
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Friends
Harry Potter Visions of Magic -

Or: How to magically take money out of people's pockets.

A very short, loveless and overcrowded exhibition.
It didn't even come close to the loving level of detail that the Harry Potter sets have.

It all feels very empty and the interaction options are really very limited.
The "goodie" for premium ticket holders is just the icing on the cake.

45 minutes of exhibition for over 50 euros + travel costs.

Enclosed is the cheap plastic print of the "goodie"
Google
Written 9 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chris
Bonn, Germany5 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Friends
The Harry Potter exhibition was the biggest rip-off and all in all really a disgrace and a waste of time. I expected next to nothing and was still disappointed.
To put it into perspective: You pay €35 per person for the tickets (time slot tickets) and parking fees extra. For this you get:
- Poorly projected animations on the walls
- Virtually no interactivity, except with wands that can be used to activate very limited things in the exhibition rooms
- Everything is cheap and careless made of plastic
You walk through the rooms and wait the whole time for the cool part of the exhibition to hopefully start soon, only to arrive at the “finale” after 25-30 minutes.
There would have been hundreds of opportunities to implement cool ideas from the cosmos, but unfortunately there was nothing.
At least you can buy completely overpriced franchise items at the end, even the photo taken by the group at the beginning costs €15.
This was the worst exhibition I have ever visited.
Google
Written 29 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FarAway42762163475
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2024 • Friends
First of all: I'm not a diehard HP fan, but I saw the films and found them entertaining. Nevertheless, I was really looking forward to it, because the exhibition was supposed to be something very special...

In short, I can absolutely confirm the other negative reviews: 30 minutes of queuing despite having booked a time slot, poorly functioning magic wands, completely irrelevant "magical" effects, absurdly high prices in the souvenir shop, which you inevitably had to go through at the end (poor parents...). And then the event was over after just under an hour, even though we felt like we really took our time.

If the "fun" had cost ten euros, I might have given it 3 stars. Because the rooms were actually quite nicely done. But 30 euros is a bottomless cheek, considering what you get. There is simply far too little to see and do. Instead of "Find the traces of magic", the motto should be "No trace of magic". Here, they simply make money with a big brand and rip off the fans' pockets. I can only advise everyone not to fall for this rip-off!
Google
Written 5 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Connector24973350445
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2024 • Couples
Almost everything has already been said, but to put it in context: At the entrance it is emphasized again that this is an "art" exhibition and an experience, not a Harry Potter exhibition. This has to be emphasized several times, because the expectations are usually different (and I think it is also advertised differently!).

So you can at least expect that this interactive "art" part is good. No.

The projections with immensely expensive projectors are mostly very blurry.
The content is mostly unimaginative.
You can imagine interactions with the magic wand like the buttons in an 80s fairytale forest. You trigger something pre-programmed. Only instead of pressing a button, you point at it with the magic wand. WOW... (Anyone who - like us - expects to be able to do one thing or another with the magic wand will be sorely disappointed!)
Hue lamps that can change color simply won't impress anyone in 2024.
Merchandise. The shop looks nice, but €12 for a small bottle of butterbeer? Seriously? Ravens as cuddly toys for Ravenclaw? (Admittedly, the filmmakers have already changed the heraldic animal from the eagle to the raven).
The most disappointing thing is the big "closing show". A few colors and flashes are simply projected over the sound from the end of "Battle of Hogwarts".
You then get a short "view" from the tower of the Hogwarts area; it really looked pretty, but unfortunately it's only short.

Positives:
The Odysseum itself is a good host. The people (you can see who is part of the exhibition and who is from the Odysseum itself) are friendly and always approachable. It is also quite clean. Any dirt is removed immediately. So the exhibition as a whole was really very clean!
Parking fees via EasyPark are acceptable.

Conclusion: I would celebrate the whole thing as a free exhibition to get me in the mood to buy something in the shop, but with an entrance fee and waiting times, it's simply not. Even in terms of an art exhibition, it's simply no longer up to date. A few large projections don't impress me anymore...
Google
Written 6 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ramona H
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2024 • Family
This review refers solely to the exhibition "Vision of Magic".

There was really no art or interaction to be seen in the - quote - "interactive art experience".
Admittedly, the event's homepage only mentioned the art experience mentioned above. Our expectations of exhibits, explanations and pleasant encounters were therefore probably incorrectly based on other exhibitions and events. The usual - let's call it "everyday culture".

It started with the fact that we had booked a time slot, but still had to wait in line for at least 40 minutes.
There we were all given a cheap plastic magic wand that was supposed to give us the interactive experience. You could use it to point at projected clouds of smoke, which then dissolved, and sometimes images also moved - wow, what interaction!
We were then ushered through themed rooms by noticeably exasperated assistants. Incidentally, the rooms were almost exclusively projected onto bare walls (apart from the beds in the Knight Errant), with the exception of the Room of Requirement and a more than loveless Knockturn Alley. No one gave any background information, and every now and then you were asked if you wanted a photo.
The rooms were far too loudly soundproofed, so that the assistants sometimes had to shout at the guests to make themselves heard. They were also uninspired and unlovingly designed. The Room of Requirement, for example, was painted entirely beige and filled with chairs.
How wonderful it would have been to actually create interaction in Knockturn Alley! For example, by opening doors and amateur actors behind them talking to each other or acting out casual scenes. No trace of any creativity!
We were through after 45 minutes, and only because we were held up. People just wanted to get away quickly. Then the grand finale: fireworks projected onto walls.
Of course, you are then taken to an overpriced shop for cheaply produced merchandise. A scarf with a Hogwarts emblem that is simply ironed on instead of embroidered or a small butterbeer for around €17.
The whole event is hard to beat in terms of lack of seriousness.
Thank you for that!

The €38 for entry was definitely a waste of money and we have already advised all of our friends not to attend the "experience" or to sell existing tickets.
Google
Written 20 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

merleksr
Iserlohn, Germany3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2024 • Couples
It takes 40 minutes to get through. The rooms are poorly designed and of poor quality. Taking a picture costs €15. The magic wands didn't work. There were far too many people and at the beginning you had to wait at least 30 minutes before you could get in despite having time slots. Very disappointing!
Google
Written 19 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Simone K
Engelskirchen, Germany15 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2024 • Family
Ramses Superstar
I was so happy, but really disappointed after a few minutes. The exhibition itself is great and well set up. But why do you sell time tickets when the exhibition is so full of people that you queue in front of every exhibit and the rooms get fuller and fuller. Must like, I think bad
Automatically translated
Written 18 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

GabrielaSeevetal
Seevetal, Germany9,987 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Couples
We are from Hamburg and bought the online tickets immediately after announcing the exhibition. We booked two nights in a hotel and spent two days in Cologne. On Tuesdays we visited the exhibition "Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs". After a short wait in front of the tills and a briefing we reached the exhibition. We spent 2.5 hours with interesting artifacts and sufficient description of the items. Worth seeing the reproduction of walls from burial chambers. Everything is presented with great attention to detail. Outstanding are the animal mummies, magnificent jewellery and the cedar Ramses II coffin.

Before we went to the exhibition, we had a timeslot for the "Virtual Reality Experience". After a short wait and a brief clarification we sat in a comfortable armchair and were guided through the temple in Abu Simbel, into the burial chamber of Nefertari - favorite wife of Ramses II and "guided" through a sandstorm - very exciting and recommended.

My research has shown that Cologne will be the only city in Germany where this exhibition will be shown.

The parking garage of the museum was fully booked, so we parked in a large parking lot of a hardware store a short distance from the museum for three hours for free.

Opening hours:
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 11am-6pm
Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10am-8pm

Reservation required.
Automatically translated
Written 14 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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ODYSSEUM (2024) All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

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