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Museums are popular - and important economic location factors
Press release from 12/12/2024
Another rise in visitor numbers to German museums and exhibition centres - And: ongoing study by the Institute for Museum Research shows that public funding invested in museums has doubled
Museums and exhibition centres in Germany continue to enjoy increasing popularity. This is shown by the overall statistical survey conducted by the Institute for Museum Research at the SPK. With around 106 million visits, museums and exhibition centres recorded almost 20 million more visits in 2023 than in the previous year. Almost 4,000 museums and around 300 exhibition centres took part in the survey. It will be published at the beginning of 2025.
Another study by the Institute for Museum Research, which is still ongoing, is looking at the economic value added by museums. It is already clear that museums are important economic location factors: Every euro invested by the public sector is doubled by the added value generated in museums. This does not even include the effects on tourism. It also shows that far more than half of the investments made by the public sector in museums flow back into the public purse as fiscal effects. The study, which was conducted together with partner ICG Integrated Consulting Group, has been running since October 2024 and is scheduled for publication in spring 2025.
Visitor numbers 2023 - almost at record level
The museums participating in the overall statistical survey reported a total of 100,941,079 visits to the Institute for Museum Research for the year 2023. This is an increase of 24 per cent compared to the previous year. For the first time since the pandemic, the three-digit million range was reached again, with the figures only ten percentage points below the record year of 2019. Of the 6,782 museums contacted, more than half (3,930) reported their attendance figures.
Exhibition centres, i.e. museums that show exhibitions without having their own collections, recorded a total of 5,104,342 visits in 2023. This is an increase of around 4 per cent compared to the previous year. Of the 497 exhibition centres contacted, 298 responded to the Institute for Museum Research.
In contrast, the number of registered exhibitions fell: museums reported a total of 5,195 exhibitions for 2023, a decrease of 20 per cent compared to the previous year. The number of exhibitions shown in exhibition centres (1,571) was only just below the previous year's level.
The Institute collected data on museum management for the first time since 2014. As before, the proportion of people who describe themselves as male (54%; 2014: 52%) is slightly higher than the proportion of female managers (46%; 2014: 48%). There are also signs of a generational shift in the near future: 39 per cent of museum directors are born in 1961 or older, meaning they will retire in the next three years.
Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, explains: "The visitor figures for 2023 show that the popularity of museums and exhibition centres remains unbroken, impressively underlining the social relevance of museums. It is now important to continue to promote the museums efficiently and sustainably so that they remain attractive places of cultural education and encounters for visitors in the future."
Silvia Willkomm, Managing Director of the German Museums Association, says: "Museums are currently facing huge challenges. Due to high energy prices, increased costs for services and tight budgets, some museums have had to reduce the number of their exhibitions. At the same time, however, visitor numbers have developed extremely positively in 2023 and many museums are facing a generational change at the top, which will provide new impetus. I am confident that the museums will respond creatively and innovatively to the challenges of the coming years with the help of the trust placed in them by the public."
For the Director of the Institute for Museum Research, Patricia Rahemipour, one thing is certain: "The debate about the social relevance and effectiveness of museums should take socio-cultural and economic factors into account. As cultural institutions and extracurricular educational facilities, museums convey social values and strengthen democracy. At the same time, they are economically relevant. With the results of the current "Study on the economic impact of the museum landscape in Germany", museums in Germany can also bring the economic impact of their work into the discussion for the first time. In addition to their own economic impact, the study also analyses the wider effects on employees, service providers and tourism. The preliminary results impressively show that the added value generated by museums is at least twice as high as the investment made by the public sector."
Enquiries can be directed to:
Institute for Museum Research
In der Halde 1, 14195 Berlin
Tel. 030/266 4269 01
Mail: ifm(at)smb.spk-berlin(dot)de
Save the date: Panel discussion 16 January 2025
In 2024, the IfM published the study "Das verborgene Kapital: Vertrauen in Museen" (Hidden Capital: Trust in Museums), which provides empirical data on the trust potential that lies in the approximately 7,000 museums in Germany:
https://www.smb.museum/museen-einrichtungen/institut-fuer-museumsforschung/forschung/forschungsprojekte/das-verborgene-kapital/.
A panel discussion on this topic will take place on 16 January 2025 in the James-Simon-Galerie.
