The Picturesque Town Of Rüdesheim am Rhein

Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet is a very unique museum showcasing hundreds of vintage mechanical musical instruments. 

It’s another world, full of eccentric music boxes, hand-cranked carnival machines, self-playing instruments, and vintage jukeboxes, with musical demonstrations of the various contraptions. The place is a little quirky and a bit bizarre, to be honest.

In the vast collection of music paraphernalia we saw violins playing on their own, monkeys playing lutes, gramophones, barrel organs, and huge orchestrions which imitate a full orchestra of musicians, all of which play music from by-gone eras. The most interesting piece of equipment was the Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina, a complex self-playing instrument from 1910, which combines a piano and 6 violins housed inside a tall wooden cabinet.

These mechanical music cabinets were popular in dance halls and homes of the elite, as far back as the 1800’s, before electricity, and were like the first boom boxes. They were very expensive and were the only way to enjoy music, other than live musicians.

In my opinion the tour was weird and wonderful at the same time. I have definitely never seen anything like this before.

You can only visit Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet museum on a tour.

Knight’s Manor

The curious museum is housed inside a historic knight’s manor from the 15th century called Brömserhof. I found the medieval building to be a highlight and was mesmerised walking through an authentic noble’s residence.

Rooms had vaulted ceilings, decorated with alfresco paintings from mid-1500’s, and there was an old chapel in the premises. The manor is one of the most impressive buildings in town.