German Historical Museum/ Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin

 

Unter den Linden 2

Tel. 20 30 40

Subway: Friedrichstrasse

Bus: 100, 157, 200, 348

Open: 10am- 6pm daily

www.dhm.de

 

The German Historical Museum (short: DHM) is a museum for German history in Berlin's Mitte district. It is based in the baroque armory on Unter den Linden boulevard and in the modern exhibition building on Hinter dem Gießhaus street. The DHM sees itself as a place of "enlightenment and understanding about the common history of Germans and Europeans" and is one of the most visited museums in the city.

 

History

The museum was founded on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the city of Berlin on October 28, 1987 in the Reichstag building in what was then West Berlin. After the great success of the Prussia exhibition "Prussia - Attempt at a Balance Sheet", which was shown in the Martin-Gropius-Bau in 1981, the then Governing Mayor of West Berlin, Richard von Weizsäcker, commissioned four prominent historians - Hartmut Boockmann, Eberhard Jäckel, Hagen Schulze and Michael Stürmer - with the development of a memorandum, which was available in January 1982 under the title Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin. The project was intensively supported by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who in his speech on the state of the nation, which he gave to the German Bundestag on February 27, 1985, described the founding of a German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin as “a national task of European responsibility rank”. A commission of experts consisting of 16 leading historians, art historians and museum directors developed the concept for the museum in 1985/1986 and put it up for discussion in public hearings in 1986. The final version became the basis for the founding of the museum. Presenting German history in an international context became the core of the museum's mission. Multi-perspective points of view are intended to enable understanding of the perspective of others, in order to reflect at a higher level in the time of internationalization of everyday life and globalization of economy and work, history and culture. On September 1, 1986, the Berlin Senate announced that the planned German Historical Museum should be located next to the Congress Hall. On July 28, 1987, the partnership agreement was signed between the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Berlin establishing the German Historical Museum Society as a provisional sponsorship with limited liability.

Originally, the Spreebogen near the Reichstag was to be the site of the museum. The Italian architect Aldo Rossi won the architectural competition for this in 1988. In 1989, however, the fall of the Wall changed the plans: On the day of German reunification on October 3, 1990, the federal government transferred the collection and property of the then Museum of German History to the DHM, which had already been donated in September 1990 by the last GDR government to the director of the DHM had been placed under. The arsenal from 1695 - the oldest building on Unter den Linden - became the seat of the German Historical Museum. In September 1991 the first exhibitions were shown in the armory.

Shortly after its founding, the collection began to be built up. Since December 1994, the permanent exhibition Pictures and Testimonies of German History has presented a first cross-section with more than 2000 exhibits. Between 1994 and 1998 the facade of the armory was renovated according to historical principles. The arsenal was closed in 1998 and renovated by the architects Winfried Brenne in 2003. The Zeughaushof, the inner courtyard with the masks by Andreas Schlueter, once again received a glass roof in the course of the new construction of the exhibition hall designed by the architect Ieoh Ming Pei between 1998 and 2003. Since 2003, the new building has been open as an exhibition hall for special exhibitions with an area of 2700 square meters on four floors. The permanent exhibition of German history in pictures and testimonies in the armory was opened on June 2, 2006 by Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Since December 30, 2008, the DHM has been supported by the German Historical Museum Foundation, a legally responsible federal foundation under public law. This is also the sponsor of the Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation Foundation. In 2015, the DHM recorded 810,000 visitors. Since the opening of the permanent exhibition in 2006, the annual number of visitors has fluctuated around 800,000.

Since June 2021, the Arsenal is expected to be closed until the end of 2025 for renovation and the development of the new permanent exhibition. The lines for the cooling have to be renewed. The extension of the DHM by I. M. Pei is still open.

 

Management

General Directors of the Museum and Presidents of the Foundation:
1987-1999 Christoph Stoelzl
2000-2011 Hans Ottomeyer
2011-2016 Alexander Koch
since April 1, 2017 Raphael Gross (appointed on November 24, 2016)

 

Exhibitions

Permanent exhibition
The permanent exhibition "German History in Pictures and Testimonies" was on display in the armory on 8,000 square meters until June 27, 2021. The permanent exhibition is expected to remain closed until the end of 2025 for necessary repairs and renewal.

Special exhibitions
The four floors of Ieoh Ming Pei's exhibition hall are mainly used for the museum's special exhibitions.

January 26 to April 3, 2016: Art from the Holocaust. 100 works from the Yad Vashem Memorial
to May 14, 2017: German colonialism. Fragments of history and present
April 12 to November 5, 2017: The Luther Effect (shown at the Martin-Gropius Bau)
June 23 to October 31, 2017: The invention of press photography. From the Ullstein Collection 1894–1945
October 18, 2017 to April 15, 2018: 1917th Revolution. Russia and Europe (in cooperation with the Swiss National Museum)
March 23 to November 4, 2018: Save. History of a German Virtue
June 13, 2018 to January 6, 2019: Europe and the Sea
November 21, 2019 to April 19, 2020: Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt
March 27, 2020 to October 18, 2020: Hannah Arendt and the 20th Century
June 18, 2021 to January 9, 2022: Documenta. politics and art
August 27 to December 5, 2021: The list of the “God-gifted”. Artists of National Socialism in the Federal Republic
February 10 to August 21, 2022: Karl Marx and Capitalism
February 25 to March 27, 2022: Gamestation: Leipzig ’89 – Revolution reloaded
April 8 to September 11, 2022: Richard Wagner and the German feeling
July 1, 2022 to January 15, 2023: citizenships. France, Poland, Germany since 1789

 

Collections

Everyday culture with the following sub-areas
Badges, history of everyday life, agriculture, politics, religious objects, toys, history of technology and medicine, sound carriers, civilian clothing and textiles: approx. 130,000 objects
Manuscripts - Old and valuable prints
approx. 35,000 objects
Applied art and graphics
Decorative arts, sculptures up to 1900, graphics: approx. 10,300 objects
Pictures
Posters, photo collection, photo archive, postcards: approx. 300,000 objects
Documents
Historical primary sources and documents from the early Middle Ages to the beginning of the First World War (9th century to 1914), documents from 1900, numismatics: approx. 284,000 objects
film archive
approx. 900 objects
Art
Paintings up to 1900, paintings and sculptures from 1900: approx. 3,680 objects
militaria
Old weapons and armour, military equipment, uniforms, flags, medals and decorations, militaria graphics: approx. 30,000 objects

 

Other facilities

Movie theater
The arsenal cinema with its 165 seats is an integral part of the German Historical Museum and is located in the arsenal. Its primary goals combine historical and film-historical issues into a program that, in addition to series accompanying exhibitions, is primarily characterized by thematic retrospectives.

Library
The scientific special library on German and general history as well as museums has around 250,000 volumes, of which 13,000 volumes are rare books, 40,000 volumes are journals and newspapers, 5,000 volumes are militaria and 15,000 museum catalogues. The public reference library is located in the administration building of the museum behind the armory, which belonged to the Prussian Central Cooperative Fund from 1899 to 1945 and later to the GDR state company Minol.

Image archive
The museum provides the most comprehensive object database of all museums in Germany for online research. The database is updated weekly. All of the museum's collections are documented in it. The database currently contains information on more than 600,000 objects and provides a digital photo for around 70 percent of these objects. Reproduction rights for commercial and non-commercial uses are managed by the DHM's image archive, which charges customary usage fees.

Living Museum Online (LeMO)
The German Historical Museum Foundation is a cooperation partner of the online portal Living Museum Online (LeMO).