Growing interest in museums and exhibition centres in Germany: over 113 million visits in 2007
Press release from 10/06/2008
The Institute for Museum Research at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz has completed and analysed the statistical survey of visitor numbers to museums in the Federal Republic of Germany for 2007.
Museums in Germany had a total of 107,303,946 visits in 2007. Compared to 2006, the number of visits increased by 4,658,868 (4.5 %) (2006: 102,645,078 visits). The most frequently cited reasons for this development were well-attended special exhibitions and special events. The largest increase was reported by the art museums, followed by the natural history museums. In a comparison of the federal states, more visits were recorded at Berlin museums in particular. Large international special exhibitions and the reopening of the Natural History Museum contributed to this.
At 9,235, the number of special exhibitions reported by museums in 2007 was 37 higher than in the comparable year 2006. The most attractive exhibitions in 2007 included "French Masterpieces of the 19th Century from the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York" (also known as "The Most Beautiful Frenchmen Come from New York") in Berlin, "Constantine the Great" in Trier, "Elisabeth of Thuringia. A European Saint" in various institutions in Thuringia and the exhibition "Dinosaurs - Successful Models of Evolution" in Stuttgart. In addition, the large-scale projects "skulptur projekte münster 07" and documenta 12, which take place on a regular basis, were very well received by the public.
The attendance figures of exhibition centres that do not have their own collections but predominantly show non-commercial exhibitions of a museum nature were also examined. Of the 482 exhibition centres contacted, 319 reported a total of 6,155,155 visits in 2007 (compared to 7,056,912 reported by 352 exhibition centres in 2006). This figure is not included in the total number of museum visits.
Museums and exhibition centres together therefore had 113.5 million visits in 2007.
Dr Michael Eissenhauer, President of the German Museums Association, comments on this result: "The survey by the Institute for Museum Research shows that museums are the most visited cultural institutions in Germany. This emphasises their social anchoring in the knowledge society." Prof Dr Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, explains the success of German museums: "The popularity of Berlin's Museum Island, in particular the Pergamon Museum and the Altes Museum, is proof of how successful research-based museums and exhibitions are." These two museums were among the most visited museums in Germany last year.
The 96-page publication of the results "Statistische Gesamterhebung an den Museen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland für das Jahr 2007" in the series "Materialien aus dem Institut für Museumsforschung", issue 62 (2008), will be available for download on the website of the Institute for Museum Research from December 2008 or can be requested free of charge as a printed publication (Institute for Museum Research, In der Halde 1, 14195 Berlin, Tel.: 030/8301-460, Fax: 030/8301-504).
Press contact:
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Dr Stefanie Heinlein
Tel: 030/25463 206
Fax:030/25463 268
E-mail
German Museums Association
Mechtild Kronenberg
Tel.:030/84109517
Fax:030/841095-19
E-Mail
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