The museum agency turns three – three years of international cooperation and exchange with more than 150 museums and partner institutions in Germany and 17 further countries on five continents. We look back at how we turned our founding idea into a robust, worldwide network, and look ahead to what we will build next on this foundation.
How it all began: from idea to institution
It all started with the idea for a new institution. Its purpose: to make Germany’s more than 7,000 museums even more visible on the international stage, so that they can share their collections, knowledge, and stories with the world. And so the museum agency was born: a central point of contact that brings German museums together with partners around the world.
We were founded in October 2023 as a non-profit, federally owned limited company (gGmbH). Our first employee started in mid-2024, and today our team in Berlin numbers 13 people. Our work reaches across all of Germany, and we are the only institution of our kind.
What we do: support in every phase of international cooperation
We support museums from the very first project idea through to the return of loans – with expertise, contacts, and seed funding, so that ideas can become reality. Since autumn 2024, we have funded 28 projects, reached more than 500 museum professionals through our events, and organised five research trips. These trips have given rise to several long-term exhibition and research collaborations.
We have also initiated a dozen new museum partnerships and helped build lasting structures within museums: international development positions have been created at five institutions with outstanding professional expertise and strong international potential. They mark the starting point for strategically building a long-term international focus and networks within these institutions. Demand for our services and funding programmes is growing with every new call.
Where we’re headed
Museums build trust across borders. That is why our mission remains to strengthen museums as international actors. To this end, by 2030 we will focus on expanding international exhibition collaborations, creating new opportunities and innovative cooperation models for museums, and involving more museums beyond the major metropolitan areas.
Thank you
Our staff and partners are the reason an idea has grown into an institution with worldwide impact. We thank the Federal Foreign Office for being a reliable shareholder, and the Supervisory Board for its ongoing strategic guidance. We are equally grateful to the independent international jury that selected the funded projects and positions. We thank the more than 150 institutions connected with us and, above all, the museums and museum professionals themselves, whose ideas and projects show what international cooperation can achieve.
To find out more about our international cooperation projects, take a look at Current and our new Inside the Projects section.