Private museum

A private museum is a collection on a mostly very limited topic and is run by individual enthusiasts, collectors and associations. In contrast to a state or public museum , scientific support and systematic documentation are not always guaranteed. For this reason, private museums are often only of significance for historical research insofar as they complement the state collections. Under certain conditions, a private museum also receives funding from the state, so that a comparison with public museums is possible. The term museum is not protected in Germany.

Significant institutions have emerged from private museums and are often still being created, such as the Alexander Koenig Museum . The British Museum also grew out of numerous private collections.

General

Many private museums, especially smaller ones, do not meet the requirements of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), which defines a museum as “a non-profit, permanent, public institution in the service of society and its development, for the purposes of study , education and entertainment procures, preserves, researches, makes known and exhibits material evidence of people and their environment ”. This has to do with the fact that qualified personnel are not sufficiently available or can hardly be financed and often only very limited opening times can be offered.

For economic reasons, the previous public museums are being privatized in some countries. In other words, they are only partially financed from taxpayers' money, the rest comes from donations and foundations. This means that state museums are moving closer to private museums and are increasingly subject to the same restrictions.

Conversely, private collections are also acquired by the state; one example is the Villa Borghese (Rome) .

Since the 1990s, a new trend in the German-speaking museum landscape can be seen in the field of fine arts . More and more private collectors are making their art collections publicly available in private museums and their own exhibition spaces. They are operated exclusively from private funds and without public subsidies. In many places, these young private initiatives are at eye level with traditional public art museums. Examples are the Museum Würth (founded in 1991 in Künzelsau), the Goetz Collection (founded in 1993 in Munich), the Fondation Beyeler (founded in 1997 in Riehen, CH), the Essl Museum (founded in 1999 in Klosterneuburg, A), the Museum Frieder Burda (founded 2004 in Baden-Baden), the Langen Foundation (founded 2004 in Neuss), the Museum Ritter (founded 2005 in Waldenbuch), the Kunsthalle Weishaupt (founded 2007 in Ulm), the Art.Plus Museum (founded 2009 in Donaueschingen ) or the me Collectors Room Berlin (founded in 2010 in Berlin). The Franz collection in the Galerie an der Ruhr in Mülheim an der Ruhr was added in 2012 .

Germany (selection)

German Pharmacy Museum in Heidelberg

Baden-Baden

Museum Frieder Burda , an art museum opened in 2004 for the Frieder Burda collection, which comprises around 800 paintings, sculptures, objects and works on paper.

Bad Rappenau

BikiniARTmuseum, museum opened in 2020, which is dedicated to the development of swimwear from 1880 to the present day.

Berlin

Beate Uhse Erotic Museum , 1996 to 2014

Bonn

Women's Museum (Bonn) , founded in 1981, operated by the Women's Museum - Art, Culture, Research Association

Braunfels

Forest Museum, established in 1916, mineral, plant and fossil collection of the natural scientist, doctor and toxicologist Dr. Friedrich Kanngießer.

Bremen

Bremer Rundfunkmuseum , founded in 1978, operated by the Bremer Rundfunkmuseum eV association

Focke-Windkanal , opened in 2005, operated by the Focke-Windkanal e. V.

Schifferhaus , furnished in 1976, historic 19th century restaurant, living rooms from around 1930, small ship museum, only available on the Internet.

Durbach

Museum of Contemporary Art - Hurrle Collection , founded in 2010 near Offenburg, German art after the Second World War ; run by the entrepreneur and collector Rüdiger Hurrle

Emden

The Kunsthalle in Emden was 1986 Henri Nannen donated

"Dat Otto Huus" in a former, converted old pharmacy, opened in 1987

Halle (Saale)

Rechenwerk Computer- & Technikmuseum Halle , GDR computing technology and automation devices, founded in 2013, operated by the digital working group Halle

Heidelberg

German Pharmacy Museum , founded in 1937, operated by the German Pharmacy Museum Foundation

Kleinsassen ( District of Fulda )

Pfundsmuseum opened in 2001, with 4,000 exhibits on the subject of weights and measures

Leipzig

House of Computer Games , mainly shown as a traveling exhibition on the history of computer and video games

G2 Kunsthalle , is a private museum for contemporary art in Leipzig

Mülheim an der Ruhr

Villa Schmitz-Scholl , KuMuMü - Mülheim cultural museum on Ruhrstrasse 3, opened in 2012, operated by the Kunstverein und Kunstförderverein Rhein-Ruhr (KKRR), based in Mülheim an der Ruhr, contemporary art, collections

Munich

Museum Peter Gehring , former house of Alfred Reich, architecture and art museum with sculpture garden

Neuharlingersiel

Bottle ship museum Neuharlingersiel, opened in 1971, collection of ships in bottles, captain pictures and historical ship models

Nuremberg

Hat Museum Nuremberg , opened in 2003, historical workshop for the production of hats

Merks Motor Museum , opened in 2011, collection of historic automobiles and motorcycles

Ofenwerk , opened in 2006, collection of historic automobiles and motorcycles

Karl Gebhardt watch collection , opened in 2002, collection of mechanical watches

Wheat Glass Museum Nuremberg , opened in 1995, collection of wheat beer glasses

Rimbach

Lanz Museum Mitterrohrbach

Sindelfingen

Schauwerk Sindelfingen , museum for contemporary art opened in 2010 for the collection of around 3,000 works by Peter Schaufler and Christiane Schaufler-Münch