Museums, Collections And Exhibitions : Germany

The large number of museums with different areas of focus has its origin in the social and cultural development of Germany. There are more than 3,000 museums in the Federal Republic: state, municipal, society and private museums; museums of local history and culture; museums of church, diocesan and cathedral treasures; and residential, castle, palace and open-air museums. They have grown up over the centuries out of royal, church and, later, civic collections.

The royal collections were not, however, intended for the erudition of the general public. Rather, they served to prominently display the sovereigns’ wealth of treasures and precious objects. Munich, for instance, was an international art center as early as the 16th century in this respect. The Bavarian dukes collected not only works of art but also technical equipment of their time, craftsmen’s tools, musical instruments, minerals and exotic items. In the 17th century, the Green Vault of the Saxon rulers in Dresden was probably the largest treasure house in Europe. Its collections eventually grew to fill an art gallery, a salon of mathematics and physics, and a mineralogy museum.

Many wealthy citizens - in keeping with the fashion of the time - also amassed collections of their own. As a result of this passion for collecting, there has come to be a museum in Germany for nearly every field of art and nearly all types of activity. Especially the large museums strive to exhibit as broad a range of their objects as possible. Due to lack of sufficient space, however, nearly all museums are forced to place many objects in storage; these can only be put on public display during special exhibitions.

From Rembrandt and Picasso to tapestries (Kassel), from wine-making equipment (Koblenz) to meteorites (Marburg), from mummies from the moors (Schleswig) to optical instruments (Oberkochen) or the oldest boat in the world reconstructed from original parts (Bremer-haven) - the variety of exhibitions appears limitless.