Museum zur Vorgeschichte des Films

Housed inside a 25.5-metre water tower in the Mülheim district of Broich, the Museum zur Vorgeschichte des Films presents a permanent exhibition on the development of moving images before the invention of cinema. The collection spans optical toys, magic lantern projectors, and early chronophotography — the devices and illusions that paved the way for film without yet being it. The tower's centrepiece is one of the world's largest walk-in camera obscuras, projecting a real-time, upside-down panorama of the surroundings onto an internal screen. Together with the neighbouring Ringlokschuppen engine shed, the water tower forms part of the Route der Industriekultur, pairing media history with a tangible piece of industrial heritage.