Mercateum

The Mercateum is the world's largest globe based on historical cartography and an impressive monument honoring the trade relations between Swabia, Franconia, and India. 🌍

You can enter the approximately 10-meter-tall globe, which connects five interior floors with museum exhibits. The impressive staircases lead you through fascinating displays about the history of long-distance trade in the 16th century, including a focus on famous trading dynasties like the Fugger and Welser families.

The outer shell shows a historically accurate world map from 1529, created by cosmographer Diego Ribero, projected onto the sphere at 260 times its original size. Around the globe, you will find information panels explaining the special features of this map as well as the hemispheres.

Special highlights of the exhibition include a copy of the Tabula Peutingeriana, Europe’s first road map from 1501, and a replica of Martin Behaim’s Erdapfel, the oldest surviving globe from 1490–1493.

The globe’s construction consists of a steel frame with wooden joints, forming a perfect sphere – all without any airlock that would complicate access. The structure is surrounded by a water basin and can be reached via two footpaths.