Mütter Museum

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Museum · Accessibility score 3.4/5

Address: 19 S 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Phone: (215) 560-8564

About

The Mütter Museum is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, in a historic building on South 22nd Street in Center City, a few blocks from Rittenhouse Square. It began in 1858, when the surgeon Thomas Dent Mütter left his teaching collection of more than 1,700 objects and specimens to the College, and today it holds more than 25,000.

This is a medical history museum, and it is frank about the human body. About 18 percent of the collection is human remains, including skeletons, preserved specimens and examples of disease and injury, shown in 150-year-old glass cases alongside wax models, medical instruments and pharmaceuticals. The museum recommends it for children 10 and up and leaves the decision to parents. Out of respect for the people in the collection, no photography is allowed in the galleries, though you can take photos in the lobby, the reading room and the Benjamin Rush Medicinal Plant Garden out front. The free Bloomberg Connects guide includes an audio tour.

Entry is limited to 50 guests per half hour, so buy tickets ahead, especially on weekends. Strollers, large bags and luggage are not allowed in the galleries; free coin-return lockers and a self-serve coat room are available. Some areas close at times for private events or installations, so the museum suggests calling (215) 560-8564 before you go. There is no café, and food and drinks are not allowed in the galleries.

The building has no parking lot, but two paid lots sit next to and behind it, and metered street parking surrounds it. SEPTA, PATCO and Amtrak's 30th Street Station are all within reach, and Rittenhouse Square and the Schuylkill River Trail are a short walk away.

Accessibility

The Mütter Museum is wheelchair accessible through a side entrance, with some limits. Visitors using wheelchairs or other mobility devices enter at the rear of the building on Van Pelt Street, which runs parallel to 21st and 22nd streets. Press the intercom button to the right of the glass door marked "College of Physicians of Philadelphia" and say you need access to the museum; someone will come to let you in.

The lower-level galleries are reached by elevator, but you need Security to operate it, and the elevator only fits a wheelchair up to 32 inches wide. Check your chair's width before you go. Manual wheelchairs are free at the admissions desk, first come, first served. Accessible restrooms, along with single, family and all-gender restrooms, are on the second floor; ask staff for elevator access. The Medicinal Plant Garden is reached through the iron gate in front of the building, with help from Security or Visitor Services.

There is no museum parking lot. One accessible on-street space is at 22nd and Chestnut streets, and paid lots are next to and behind the building. Walkways between cases are narrow in many areas, which is why strollers and large bags are not allowed.

Some display cases are dimly lit to protect the specimens, and some older labels still use small type. A video tour in American Sign Language covers several well-known objects. The museum holds ASL tours, touch tours and sensory-friendly mornings several times a year, and ASL, CART captioning or a verbal description tour can be requested through its accessibility manager. A personal care assistant gets in free with a paying visitor.

Checked by Accessible America, September 2026. Report a change

How we checked this

We checked these details against official information from the venue and public agencies:

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Photo credits

  • The red brick and stone College of Physicians building that houses the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia.: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0 (source)
  • Wooden display cases with skeletons and specimens line a gallery inside the Mütter Museum.: Molly Lewis, CC BY 2.0 (source)
  • A blue Mütter Museum sign beside the iron gate and steps at the College of Physicians building.: Terry Robinson, CC BY-SA 2.0 (source)

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