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Museum
Das Gemälde zeigt eine Ansicht des Museumsgebäudes aus Richtung Norden im Eröffnungsjahr 1925.

Photo: Deutsches Museum

The History of the Deutsches Museum

"Volksbildung und Volksbelustigung" - “Popular education and popular amusement”: These are the cornerstones on which Oskar von Miller based his idea of a technical and scientific museum. The Munich engineer, inventor and energy pioneer did win influential partners from politics, science and industry at the beginning of the 20th century for his idea.

Oskar von Miller

The Museum Founder

Trained as an engineer, Oskar von Miller was one of the driving forces behind the development of the electricity supply for the whole of Bavaria. His excellent network in science and technology as well as his fame enabled him to fulfill a long-cherished dream: the founding of a scientific and technical museum.

Short biography and picture gallery
The name "Deutsches Museum" is intended to emphasise that the house is significant for the whole of Germany. However, important objects from all over the world have always been collected and displayed here.

The Founding Years

Donations and international help

The idea finds many supporters.

The Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft und Technik was founded in 1903, supported by numerous donations from the state and private individuals. It achieved its worldwide reputation as a place of knowledge transfer early on.

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Procession for the opening of the Deutsches Museum 1925

On 5 May 1925, to celebrate the imminent opening of the Deutsches Museum, a large parade took place in Munich through the city centre. The individual floats each symbolised a technical discipline, a craft or one of the four elements.

The Ensemble on the "Museumsinsel"

More than an exhibition venue

Exhibition - Library - Congress Hall

Construction started in 1906 but due to the First World War and inflation the opening of the Deutsches Museum on the Museumsinsel took place about twenty years later, in 1925.

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War, Destruction, Reconstruction

Destruction and rebuilding

Major damage to buildings and exhibits.

80 percent of the buildings and 20 percent of the exhibits were damaged or destroyed during the Second World War. It was not until 1965 that the exhibition space reached its pre-war level.

After the Bombs: The gradual reconstruction of the exhibitions

The Museum is growing

Aviation museum, transport museum, Bonn and Nuremberg

More exhibition space and four branches

The Deutsches Museum continually expands. Besides the ensemble on the Museumsinsel its branches include the aviation museum in Schleißheim, the transport museum, the future museum in Nuremberg and Deutsches Museum in Bonn.

About the expansion of the museum

From the first idea until today

  1. 1855
  2. 1891
  3. 1903
  4. 1905
  5. 1906
  6. 1907
  7. 1908
  8. 1909
  9. 1911
  10. 1914
  11. 1915
  12. 1916/17
  13. 1923
  14. 1925
  15. 1928
  16. 1930
  17. 1932
  18. 1933
  19. 1934
  20. 1935
  21. 1937
  22. 1938
  23. 1944
  24. 1945
  25. 1946
  26. 1947
  27. 1948
  28. 1953
  29. 1955
  30. 1965
  31. 1973
  32. 1978
  33. 1983
  34. 1984
  35. 1992
  36. 1995
  37. 2003
  38. 2006
  39. 2009
  40. 2015
  41. 2021

The Future Initiative

For the Future

Exhibitions and buildings are being brought up to date.

In two phases, the buildings on the Museumsinsel are currently being renovated and the exhibitions redesigned. The first phase was successfully completed in 2022.

Modernisation