Munich's State Museums: Free for Under-18s Every Day, 1 Euro on Sundays

The Official Rule

Anyone under 18 gets into Munich’s Bavarian state museums for free, every day of the week, with no application or voucher needed. Per Museen in Bayern’s official overview for Munich, this applies across the city’s major art and cultural-history museums, run by the Bavarian state: the Alte Pinakothek, Pinakothek der Moderne, Museum Brandhorst, and Sammlung Schack (together the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), plus the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Museum Fünf Kontinente, the Glyptothek and Staatliche Antikensammlungen at Königsplatz, the Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, the Staatliche Münzsammlung, and Museum Mensch und Natur at Schloss Nymphenburg.

A second, related deal covers the same museums on Sundays: 1 euro admission for everyone, adults included. Pinakothek’s own visitor page lists the regular prices this replaces: the Alte Pinakothek is normally 9 euros (6 reduced), Pinakothek der Moderne 10 euros (7 reduced), Museum Brandhorst 7 euros (5 reduced), and Sammlung Schack 4 euros (3 reduced), all dropping to 1 euro on Sundays. The Bayerisches Nationalmuseum’s own page confirms the same pattern for itself: 7 euros regular, 6 reduced, 1 euro on Sundays.

Two museums on this list break the pattern, and both are worth knowing before you plan a trip. The Lenbachhaus confirms on its own visitor page that under-18s get free entry daily, but the museum isn’t part of the 1-euro-Sunday group at all, adults pay the regular 10 euro rate on Sundays. Instead, the Lenbachhaus runs its own separate deal: “extra+ at Lenbachhaus,” free admission for everyone on the first Thursday of each month from 6 to 10pm. On the opposite end, the Deutsches Museum’s own pricing page shows it isn’t part of either scheme: only children through age 5 are free, while children and teens 6 to 17 pay the same reduced 9 euro rate as students and seniors, with no 1-euro Sunday at all. Given how often the Deutsches Museum is the first place families think of, that’s the single most useful exception to know.

The NS-Dokumentationszentrum sits at the far end of the spectrum: it’s free for every visitor, every age, every day it’s open, no scheme required. And a caveat that applies across the board, per multiple museum sites: special or temporary exhibitions are usually priced separately and aren’t automatically included in either the under-18 free entry or the 1-euro Sunday rate, worth a quick check on the specific exhibition page before you go.

What Real People Say

A recurring theme in visitor forums is that people simply don’t know this deal exists until someone mentions it. On a Munich forum thread on Tripadvisor, a traveler asked for a rundown of which 1-euro Sunday museums were actually worth visiting, having run out of time to research beforehand, and got pointed straight to the Alte Pinakothek, with one reply calling it something they “could spend the whole day” in. The same thread flags the Deutsches Museum as a common point of confusion: it’s not part of the 1-euro program, and one visitor specifically warned that with parts of the museum still under reconstruction, they wouldn’t recommend paying full price for it right now.

Family-focused sources add the parenting angle. Munich Kids’ rundown of the 1-euro Sunday list notes that several of these museums lean into the Sunday crowd with kid-specific programming on top of the cheap admission, like themed family tours and craft activities at the Egyptian Museum on certain Sundays. The pattern that comes through both the forum and the parent blog is the same: the free/1-euro deal isn’t a secret exactly, but it’s not well advertised either, and most people find out about it from another parent or a targeted search rather than stumbling on it at the museum door.

Step by Step

1. Confirm your child’s age qualifies, under 18 covers the free daily entry at all Bavarian state museums listed above, no separate application needed.
2. Pick a Sunday if adults are coming too, that’s when the same museums drop to 1 euro for everyone, not just the kids.
3. Skip the Neue Pinakothek from your list, it’s closed until 2029, look for its 19th-century works at the Alte Pinakothek’s east wing or Sammlung Schack instead.
4. Treat the Lenbachhaus and the Deutsches Museum as special cases, the Lenbachhaus is free under-18 daily but full price for adults except the first Thursday evening, and the Deutsches Museum has no free or 1-euro deal for anyone.
5. Check the exhibition page before you go if there’s a special show on, temporary exhibitions are usually priced separately from the permanent collection.
6. Bring some form of ID for teens who look close to 18, no official site mandates it, but it avoids an awkward moment at the ticket desk.

Compliance Note

This page reflects museum admission rules and prices as researched in mid-2026. Prices, opening days, and exhibition schedules can change, and individual museums occasionally adjust their free or reduced-admission conditions. Confirm current pricing directly on the museum’s own website before planning your visit.