This museum stop is a highlight in Mainz. We spent a few hours here, learning more about this incredible man, Johannes Gutenberg (born c. 1395, Mainz—died probably Feb. 3, 1468, Mainz) and his invention that changed the world.
Johannes Gutenberg is undisputedly the greatest son of the city of Mainz. With the invention of printing with movable type, he laid the foundation of modern media communication.
Its outstanding importance is internationally recognized: In 1997, the renowned American magazine “Time Life” named Gutenberg’s invention the most important discovery of the past millennium. At the end of 1998, American journalists chose Gutenberg as the most important personality of the 2nd millennium in their book “1000 Years – 1000 People” with the title “Man of the Millennium”. In 2000, the people of Mainz and their guests celebrated the 600th birthday of the inventor of the millennium for twelve months. (https://www).gutenberg.de/mainz/index.php)
This shows where the museum is, in the main square near the church.
No one is sure what Johannes Gutenberg looked like, but here are a few guesses:
The museum has regular demonstrations using a press patterned after the original press Gutenberg created.
We were the only English speakers in our group, so the kind museum guide gave us a private showing of an English film about Gutenberg, which was excellent.
Original copies of Gutenberg’s Bible are kept in a vault where you can see them. This photo is taken of one of those Bibles in the film. (You’re not allowed to take photos in the vault.)
The last sale of a complete Gutenberg Bible took place in 1978, which sold for $2.4 million. This copy is now in Austin, Texas. The price of a complete copy today is estimated at $25−35 million.
The museum has rooms full of old presses, showing how they changed over time.
And there are incredible collections of books and texts and printed materials.
I think I would have loved being an embellisher. Books were often personalized for the purchasers with their choice of illuminations.
Above: the way illuminators made ink. Below: how rag paper was made.
Below: how the different ink colors were made.
There was one room that showed the history of type and printing in Asia. It was really interesting. They have so many characters.
These are the trays that held the type.
The museum showed how printing changed the way the world communicates.
We learned about book binding.
These copies of the Christmas story from Luke were for sale in the gift shop:
After leaving the museum, we passed by this printing shop where children were in a class learning about the printing process.
This is a great place to visit!!
Our Frankfurt Germany Mission 
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