Unter den Linden 2
Tel. 20 30 40
Subway: Friedrichstrasse
Bus: 100, 157, 200, 348
Open: 10am- 6pm daily
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.
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.
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)
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
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
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).