Munich's Toy Museum is impressive even from the street - it is housed in the old town hall, which itself looks like something out of a fairy tale. The collection occupies all 4 floors of this tower, and it is best to begin viewing the exhibition by taking the elevator to the very top and then descending to the next hall via the old spiral staircase.
The history of the museum began with a search for props for a documentary film – Czech director and writer Ivan Steiger was looking for old toys for filming. After finishing work on the film, he realized that he could not part with the wonderful little trains and antique toy cars. Soon his collection began to grow with Teddy bears, dolls, and figurines and expanded at a rapid pace, no longer fitting in the director's apartment. The collector turned to the city authorities, and the town hall tower was placed at the disposal of the toy museum, where porcelain dolls and tin trains have been living for 25 years.
The museum has a huge collection of toy bears that children especially love, mechanical little trains, steamboats, and cars excite fathers, while mothers marvel at the beauty and elegance of the porcelain dolls from the last century.
