The Future Initiative

The exhibition building on the Museumsinsel has been extended again and again, but never really renovated. That is why Federal President Horst Köhler launched the Future Initiative in 2006. Among other things, it includes a general renovation of the collection building as well as updating and redesigning the exhibitions. An important element of the plan is that during the modernisation, part of the museum will always remain open to visitors from all over the world. In the course of the next few years, the committed museum management succeeded in winning far-sighted patrons and responsible companies for start-up financing - a prerequisite for the participation of the public sector in the entire financing.

After extensive preparations, the hot phase of the renovation began in October 2015. Thousands of objects, from aircraft to turbines, were packed up and transported to depots. Afterwards, the empty exhibition rooms were returned to their shell condition, and subsequent installations were demolished. New technical cores were installed, walls, ceilings and floors are renovated. At the same time, the exhibitions were prepared - in the process, departments such as Aviation and Astronautics were given a contemporary makeover, and completely new exhibitions such as Health or Image Script Codes were also being created.

In July 2022, the time had come: the first part of the modernisation was completed. And while the second part of the museum is being renovated in the background, visitors can already experience knowledge in a completely new way on 20,000 square metres in the completely renovated exhibitions.