German museums and exhibition centres once again very well attended in 2015 - Total number of visits to museums increased by 2.2 per cent year-on-year to 114,423,192 - A total of 9,025 special exhibitions in German museums
Press release from 12/19/2016
The visitor figures for museums are published in the overall statistical survey of museums and exhibition centres in the Federal Republic of Germany. This has been published annually since 1981 by the Institute for Museum Research of the National Museums in Berlin Prussian Cultural Heritage in co-operation with the German Museums Association. The number of visits developed differently depending on the federal state and the type of museum. The most frequently cited reasons for the increase in the number of visits were large special exhibitions and the expansion of public relations work and museum education. A varied programme of exhibitions and events plays an important role. However, the stable economic situation also has an influence on visitors, which encourages mobility and travelling. Museums in Germany's major cities in particular have been benefiting from growing cultural tourism for years. Significant growth was recorded in special cultural history museums (+7.6 per cent) and art museums (+4.6 per cent), among others.
Visitor numbers to exhibition centres fell slightly in 2015.
For 2015, the Institute for Museum Research again contacted exhibition centres that do not have their own collections but predominantly show non-commercial exhibitions of a museum nature. Of 467 exhibition venues, 362 returned the questionnaire (77.5 per cent). Of these, 325 exhibition centres reported a total of 5,742,933 visits in 2015 (compared to 5,885,635 in 2014). This figure is not included in the total number of museum visits. Around 90 per cent of all special exhibitions in the exhibition centres were art exhibitions.
Results of the survey on special offers for foreign citizens and refugees in 2015
At intervals of several years, the Institute for Museum Research asks the museums whether and what offers the institutions have for foreign citizens. Due to the current situation, the question in the survey questionnaire was expanded to include programmes for refugees. The questionnaire asked about the institutions' efforts to provide an intercultural programme as well as offers for foreigners living in Germany and for foreign tourists. Of the 6,710 museums contacted for 2015, 4,206 (62.7 per cent) responded to this question.
Approximately every fourth museum that answered the question about an offer for foreign citizens and refugees already had an offer or was planning one in 2015. Of the 710 museums that reported specific formats, 42.7 per cent were explicitly geared towards the target group of refugees, 46.4 per cent could not be differentiated and 38.5 per cent offered programmes in one of the international foreign languages.
Prof Dr Eckart Köhne, President of the German Museums Association, comments: "The exhibitions and objects in our museums tell stories of change, immigration and cultural development. They therefore offer countless opportunities for cultural education and exchange, especially for people with different cultural backgrounds. Our museums utilise this potential with a wide range of offers and are committed to making their contribution to a worthwhile coexistence in our country."
Restoration and conservation - a core task in most museums
As part of the annual survey, the Institute for Museum Research asks different additional questions each year. In 2015, information on the conservation and restoration of collection objects was requested for the first time. For the 2015 survey, 5,351 museums returned the questionnaire. Of these, 3,851 institutions (72.0 per cent) provided information. 3,756 museums provided information on the frequency of conservation/restoration work. Accordingly, 1,447 museums (51 per cent) carried out conservation/restoration work regularly or occasionally in 2015. The majority of these were carried out by freelance conservators (51.7 per cent).18.1 per cent of the institutions stated that there was no need for conservation/restoration in 2015.
Prof Dr Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, commented: "Museums are the most important custodians of our cultural heritage. The preservation of collection objects through restoration and research, as well as making them accessible through documentation and digitisation, are among the core tasks of a museum in the 21st century."
Further information and data on the German museum landscape in 2015 can be found in the 104-page publication "Statistische Gesamterhebung an den Museen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland für das Jahr 2015", which contains information on the individual federal states in addition to a presentation of museum visits by type of museum.
The publication appears in the series "Materialien aus dem Institut für Museumsforschung", issue 70 (2015) and is available for download on the Institute's website. A printed publication can be requested free of charge (Institut für Museumsforschung, In der Halde 1, 14195 Berlin, Tel. 030/8301-460, Fax: 030/8301-504).