Mission

The Deutsches Museum with its branch museums is an outstanding place for communicating scientific and technical knowledge and for a constructive dialogue between science and society. Established in 1903, it is among the world's oldest museums of science and technology and, with total exhibition space of 66,000 square m², one of the largest. Its unique collection of original exhibits makes Deutsches Museum a leading international venue for celebrating science and technology as a cultural endeavour. As a major German research museum of national significance, it is supported by the state of Bavaria, the federal government and the German states and is a member of the Leibniz Association.

The Deutsches Museum fulfils a national mission for collecting and preserving historically significant objects from the world of science and technology and conducts research in the history of those fields and the related social transformations. With its exhibitions and accompanying events and activities, it bridges the gap between research and education and thus helps to foster innovation in our society. The entertaining communication of basic ideas of science and technology is geared to the target groups and provides an overview of historical developments while offering insights into the latest research. It allows people of all ages to gain an understanding of the research process while presenting scientific and technological topics and their impact on our lives in an accessible way. The Deutsches Museum addresses controversial issues and acts as a venue where people can exchange ideas, form their own opinions, and participate in the world of science and technology. In this way it offers orientation in an increasingly complex world in which science and technology place a decisive role and enables museum visitors to reach informed decisions and act as informed citizens in political decision-making processes.

We are the most important museum for science and technology and play a formative role in the dialogue on the future of our Earth.

To bolster its position as a prominent forum and educational venue for scientific and technical education, the Deutsches Museum is redesigning the majority of its exhibitions within the framework of its Future Initiative and updating them in terms of content, educational approach and design. This requires extensive refurbishments of the historical exhibition building on the Museumsinsel. The Deutsches Museum will continue to rely on the impact of authentic exhibits from its collection, unique among the world's museums, complemented by models, interactive stations and demonstrations. The main emphasis is on the in-person communication of exhibition contents through the highly qualified guides and demonstrators.

In the modernized exhibitions, the fascination of science and technology will be communicated to visitors through a competent, clear and balanced presentation of the implications for society. The exhibitions are divided into five thematic clusters dedicated to a basic understanding of science and technology as well as the key challenges facing humanity, now and in the future.

To bring its collections together in a single building that meets the physical requirements for preserving valuable cultural artefacts, the Deutsches Museum plans, as part of its Future Initiative, to establish a central display collection. It will be accessible to visitor groups and will provide an insight into museum-specific activities in addition to the exhibitions.

With its activities, the Deutsches Museum wishes to maintain a strong presence in public debate on important future issues. To enhance its effectiveness in fulfilling that mission, it will establish a Future Forum in the former congress centre at the Ludwigsbrücke, which will invite the public, the scientific community and industry representatives to engage in open and constructive discussions on issues pertaining to science and technology. With a comprehensive dialogue and event programme, the forum will serve as a space for personal encounters and active involvement in the knowledge society, applying up-to-date and innovative formats for science communication.

The Deutsches Museum is an internationally renowned research institution. The inter- and trans-disciplinary research programme integrates collection-related, historical, museum science, restoration and natural scientific approaches as well as research projects on science communication. These are combined with the museum's other core tasks of collecting, preserving, exhibiting and communicating. With its collections, the Deutsches Museum offers a unique research infrastructure for scientists. As scientific service facilities it maintains one of the world's largest libraries of the history of science and technology in the German-speaking world and one of the world's leading special archives. The Deutsches Museum cooperates with other museums, universities and research facilities in Germany and around the world and is tightly integrated into university research and teaching in the local network of universities in the Munich area.

To leverage the unique combination of an outstanding collection with the holdings of the library and archives, the Deutsches Museum plans to digitalize and scientifically document the majority of these holdings and make them accessible online as the "Digital Deutsches Museum". This will make a unique knowledge and education resource accessible both to international researchers and the general public.

The Deutsches Museum is neutral, independent and committed to the principles of good scientific practice. It is open to all people and will ensure that their visit to the museum will be an enriching experience. The Deutsches Museum strives to be barrier-free in every area and is increasingly using digital media to make its resources and activities accessible worldwide. It embraces new developments and ideas, involves people in scientific thought processes and engages in discussions with them as equals.

The Deutsches Museum is networked with the worlds of science, education and culture, the business community and policy makers, and pursues targeted participation in interdisciplinary projects. Since it was founded it has thrived on close cooperation with science and industry, characterized by a spirit of partnership, that is essential to fulfilling its educational mission.

The Deutsches Museum sees itself as a learning and innovative organization. Its most important resource is its staff, with their creativity, specialized areas of expertise, skills and commitment. Continuous personal and professional development and lifelong learning comprise a key element of the working culture. The employees of the Deutsches Museum treat one another with mutual esteem and are fair and respectful, regardless of formal structures and hierarchies. Irrespective of gender, place of origin, age or lifestyle, they work together as equals.