Museum · Wolfsburg · Updated on 1 November 2026.

Museum Phaeno in Wolfsburg

Phaeno is a museum in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. This place has a story in the app. 3 of the 16 well-known points of interest nearby are within 1 km. Within 180 m you'll find a bench, a public toilet and a bike pump.

Directions in Google Maps

The story

Wikipedia ↗Official website ↗

Story · Phaeno

You're standing at Phæno, a science center right next to Wolfsburg's railway station. Take a good look at this building. It's a huge mass of concrete, about a hundred and seventy metres long and sixteen metres high. And yet it almost seems to float. That's thanks to the ten cone-shaped concrete pillars underneath, some of them up to seven metres across. They carry the whole structure, and between them there's a sort of cave you can simply walk through. After dark, the underside and those pillars are lit up.

Read the whole story in the Outdoor Pitstop app: check in at this place and it is yours (with Pro; new users are Pro for the first 4 weeks).

Opening hours and admission

Opening hours: Tu-Fr 09:00-17:00; Sa,Su,PH 10:00-18:00
Admission: Paid
Wheelchair: Accessible

Source: OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.

Photos

10 photos from Wikimedia Commons. In the app you add your own photo when you are there.

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Photo: Richard Bartz · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0View the photo on Wikimedia Commons

Phaeno in Wolfsburg: a museum about science

Phaeno in Wolfsburg is a museum where you can learn all about science. The centre has more than 350 experiments on themes such as energy, mathematics and life. You can also watch shows with live experiments in the theatre. The museum is on Willy-Brandt-Platz in Wolfsburg, and the Zwangsarbeiter-Denkmal and the ZeitHaus are a short distance away. The building itself is worth a look too: its concrete pillars and the walk-through space beneath it are free to explore, even if you don't go inside.

What you can see at phaeno

The building is a 170-metre-long lump of concrete, 16 metres high. It seems to float on 10 cone-shaped pillars, some of them as much as 7 metres wide. This creates a kind of cave you can walk under for free. After dark, the pillars and the underside are lit up. A metal bridge links the centre with the Autostadt of Volkswagen. Inside, you will find more than 350 experiments across 9,000 square metres. You choose your own route past themes such as seeing, energy and mathematics. For children from the age of 3, there is a play area spread over 3 floors. Also look out for the sloping walls and narrow viewing slits in the concrete, which offer different views with every step.

The history of phaeno

Architect Zaha Hadid won the design competition for the building in 2000, and the centre opened on 24 November 2005. Construction cost around 67 million euros. Originally the plan was for an art museum, but cultural director Wolfgang Guthardt preferred a science centre instead. He made that decision after visiting a science centre elsewhere, and he later became the first director of Museum Phaeno in Wolfsburg himself. The building has also featured in films and series, including the thriller The International and the series Arcadia.

Drinking water, toilets and benches at Phaeno

There are 61 benches within 500 metres of the museum. The nearest of these to Museum Phaeno in Wolfsburg is 38 metres away. A toilet near Museum Phaeno in Wolfsburg is 153 metres away on Porschestraße, and this toilet is wheelchair accessible. Within 500 metres there are 14 public toilets in total. For a bike pump, you walk 176 metres to An der Vorburg, and there are 3 bike pumps within 500 metres. According to our map, there is no drinking water to be found near Museum Phaeno in Wolfsburg within a radius of 1 km.

Walks and sights around Phaeno

Several places of interest lie within easy reach of Phaeno. The Zwangsarbeiter-Denkmal is 286 metres away, and the ZeitHaus museum is 320 metres from the museum. Continue on foot for 1,000 metres and you reach the Volkswagen Arena, where an audio story is available. The Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg is 1,202 metres away, and Schloss Wolfsburg lies 1,290 metres from Phaeno. You can also visit the Planetarium Wolfsburg, which is 1,448 metres away.