City Museum Berlin Foundation

What City Museum Berlin Foundation does

Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin (City Museum Berlin Foundation) is a public law foundation established by the State of Berlin in 1995, operating as Berlin's state museum for urban culture and history (Landesmuseum). It traces its origins to the 1874 founding of the Märkisches Provinzialmuseum. The foundation operates a network of six distinct museum locations across Berlin — Märkisches Museum, Museum Nikolaikirche, Museum Ephraim-Palais, Museum Knoblauchhaus, Museumsdorf Düppel (an open-air medieval settlement), and the BERLIN GLOBAL permanent exhibition at the Humboldt Forum — managing a collection of approximately 4.5 million objects. It employs 51–100 staff led by Executive Director Sophie Plagemann.

The foundation's offerings include permanent and rotating exhibitions, an online collection database (Sammlung Online) covering ~4.5 million objects, 360-degree virtual tours via Matterport technology, and a digital photography archive (Fotothek) with 90,000+ reproductions. Educational programming (Vermittlung) targets kindergartens, schools, families, and adults, with guided tours, workshops, teacher professional development, and children's birthday party offerings. Underlying technology includes the DAPHNE documentation system for the phototheque, an Actionbound-based mobile city exploration app, integrated e-commerce ticketing with Klarna payment processing, and SSL-secured web infrastructure complying with BITV 2.0 accessibility standards.

Revenue is generated through multiple streams: admission ticket sales (online and at museum cash desks), museum shop merchandise, fees for guided tours and educational programs, reproduction and licensing rights from the phototheque, and filming/photography permits. The foundation also earns through its wholly-owned Stadtmuseum Berlin GmbH operating entity and distributes tickets through tourism partners including WelcomeCard, Museumspass Berlin, and the Stiftung Humboldt Forum (as authorized reseller for BERLIN GLOBAL). Primary customer segments are educational institutions, tourists, Berlin residents and families, researchers and scholars, and group event organizers; the foundation does not disclose revenue figures.

Name

City Museum Berlin Foundation

Legal name

Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin

Website

https://stadtmuseum.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin is a Berlin state public law foundation operating six museum locations plus the BERLIN GLOBAL exhibition at Humboldt Forum, preserving 4.5 million artifacts and serving residents, tourists, schools, and researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Heritage Museum Services

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Museums (712110), Historical Sites (712120), Libraries and Archives (51921)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI), Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), History, Heritage & Museum-Focused Study Tours (THAKAGAN)

Keywords

• Museum exhibitions
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Educational programs
• Historical archives
• City history museum

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Admission fees for museum exhibitions and the Berlin Global exhibition at Humboldt Forum. Entry tickets are sold at museum cash desks and through online shop with time-slot booking.
2. Museum Shop Sales: Retail sales of museum merchandise, publications, and gift items at physical museum shops.
3. Educational Programs: Revenue from guided tours, workshops, educational programs for schools, kindergartens, families, and continuing education for teachers.
4. Photography and Reproduction Rights: Fees charged for reproductions from the phototheque collection for private, scientific, and commercial use.
5. Filming and Photography Permits: Fees for film and photography permits for documentary, news coverage, and commercial productions at museum locations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin operates a multi-site museum network across Berlin showcasing the city's cultural and urban history, including the Märkisches Museum, Museum Nikolaikirche, Museum Ephraim-Palais, Museum Knoblauchhaus, Museumsdorf Düppel, and the Berlin Global exhibition at Humboldt Forum. It also provides educational programs for schools, kindergartens, families, and adults, guided tours, teacher training, and supporting services such as a photo library (Fotothek), house archive, provenance research, library access, and filming/photography permits. The foundation manages a collection of approximately 4.5 million objects, with public access through the Sammlung Online digital database and 360-degree virtual tours.

Product overview

Stadtmuseum Berlin (City Museum Berlin Foundation) is a public foundation operating a multi-site museum network focused on Berlin's cultural and city history. The core offering consists of five physical museum locations—Märkisches Museum, Museum Nikolaikirche, Museum Ephraim-Palais, Museum Knoblauchhaus, and Museumsdorf Düppel—plus the major permanent exhibition Berlin Global at Humboldt Forum. The museum provides public access to its collection of approximately 4.5 million objects through the Sammlung Online digital database, while offering educational programs (Vermittlung) for schools, families, and adults including guided tours and teacher training. Additional services include 360° virtual tours for remote visitors, the Fotothek (photo library with ~90,000 reproductions), Hausarchiv (house archive), Provenienzforschung (provenance research), library services, filming/photography permits, and loan services. An online ticketing system supports ticket sales and group bookings. The museum also publishes Berlin Geschichten stories and maintains a construction journal documenting building projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum Network (Six Locations) Network of six historic museum sites across Berlin offering permanent and temporary exhibitions on Berlin's urban and cultural history, including the city history museum (Märkisches Museum), Berlin's oldest preserved church (Museum Nikolaikirche), a Biedermeier merchant house (Museum Knoblauchhaus), a Biedermeier-era city mansion (Museum Ephraim-Palais), and an open-air medieval settlement reconstruction (Museumsdorf Düppel). For general public, tourists, and educational groups.
• Berlin Global Exhibition Permanent exhibition at Humboldt Forum spanning 4,000 square meters exploring how Berlin and its people are connected to the world across history and the present day. Distributed through Stiftung Humboldt Forum. For general public, tourists, and educational groups.
• BerlinZEIT Exhibition Large permanent exhibition at Museum Ephraim-Palais presenting Berlin's city history from the city's origins to the present day. For general public, tourists, and educational groups.
• Guided Tours (Führungen) Guided tours and group tour bookings for adults and groups, covering exhibitions across museum locations. Includes public tours and booked group experiences. Priced per group with cancellation fees.
• Educational Programs (Vermittlung) Educational programs tailored for kindergartens, schools, families, and adults, including curriculum-aligned workshops, family activities, and structured learning experiences. School and kindergarten programs are free or heavily subsidized.
• Teacher Professional Development (Fortbildungen für Lehrkräfte) Continuing education and professional development courses for teachers to enhance museum-based learning in educational settings.
• Children's Birthday Parties (Kindergeburtstage) Curated birthday party programs for children held at museum locations, notably Museumsdorf Düppel, integrating cultural and historical content with celebration activities. For families.
• 360° Virtual Tours Immersive 360-degree virtual tours built with Matterport technology, allowing remote exploration of Museum Knoblauchhaus and Museum Nikolaikirche. For remote visitors, researchers, and the general public.
• Sammlung Online (Online Collection Database) Public web-based database providing searchable access to the museum's collection of approximately 4.5 million objects documenting Berlin's history and culture. For researchers, scholars, and the general public.
• Fotothek (Photo Library) Photography and reproduction services providing access to over 90,000 reproductions from the phototheque for private, scientific, and commercial use. Includes prints, negatives, and digital reproductions managed through the DAPHNE documentation system. For researchers, publishers, media, and commercial users.
• Hausarchiv (House Archive) Archive containing administrative records, archival collections, and estates documenting the history of the foundation and its predecessor institutions (Märkisches Museum, Berlin Museum). Based in Spandau. For researchers and scholars.
• Library (Bibliothek) Specialized library supporting museum work with a collection focus on Berlin's culture and history, including the Mark Brandenburg region. For researchers, scholars, and the public.
• Provenance Research (Provenienzforschung) Systematic research program established in 2008 to investigate the provenance of collection objects, particularly those potentially looted during the Nazi era and post-war acquisitions. For researchers, claimant families, and institutional partners.
• Collection Loan Services (Leihverkehr) Loan services providing objects from the collection to museums in Germany and internationally. For museums and exhibition organizers.
• Filming and Photography Permits (Dreh- und Fotoanfragen) Professional filming and photography permit services for documentary films, news coverage, and commercial productions at museum locations. For production companies, news agencies, and commercial photographers.
• Online Ticketing System Online ticketing platform for purchasing admission tickets, event tickets, and booking guided tours and group programs with time-slot booking. Supports Klarna payment processing. For general public, groups, and tourists.
• Berliner Leben im Biedermeier Exhibition Permanent exhibition at Museum Knoblauchhaus providing insight into life during the Biedermeier period (1815-1848) through the preserved merchant family home of the Knoblauch family.
• Berlins Mitte Exhibition Permanent exhibition at Museum Nikolaikirche exploring the origins of Berlin's city history in Berlin's oldest preserved church building.
• Leben im Mittelalter Exhibition Permanent exhibition at Museumsdorf Düppel documenting medieval settlement life from over 800 years ago on the original site of the open-air museum.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 4.5 million objects in the permanent collection documenting Berlin's cultural history
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner SchlosscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThe Stiftung Humboldt Forum acts as the authorized ticket seller and event service provider for the BERLIN GLOBAL exhibition located at Humboldt Forum. They handle entry tickets, guided tours, and event bookings for the exhibition on behalf of Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin. The exhibition spans 4,000 square meters showcasing Berlin's connections to the world.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Deutsches Historisches Museum: Germany's national history museum located in Berlin, covering German history from the Middle Ages to the present. Directly comparable as a large multi-site history-focused museum in Berlin with permanent and temporary exhibitions, education programmes, and significant collection depth.
• Historisches Museum Frankfurt: Frankfurt's history museum, operated as a public-private partnership covering urban history with educational programming. Comparable as a German municipal history museum with comparable collection depth and educational focus.
• Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte: Hamburg's city history museum, part of the Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg. Directly comparable as a Hanseatic-city history museum with permanent and special exhibitions on urban history.
• Wien Museum: Vienna's city museum, dedicated to the history and culture of Vienna with multiple locations and a major recent expansion. Closely comparable as a Central European city-history museum with distributed sites and significant collections.
• Münchner Stadtmuseum: Munich's city museum, covering the cultural and urban history of Munich across multiple sites. The most direct structural peer — a German municipal city-history museum network operating permanent collections, special exhibitions, and education programmes.
• Jüdisches Museum Berlin: Berlin's Jewish Museum, a federally supported museum with a major permanent collection, special exhibitions, and educational programmes. Comparable as a multi-location Berlin cultural foundation operating at scale with international scholarly reach.
• DDR Museum: A private Berlin museum dedicated to everyday life in East Germany, operating a high-traffic permanent exhibition near the city's main tourist corridor. Comparable as a Berlin cultural institution monetising themed history through admissions, shop, and experience design.

Regional players

• Museumsdorf Cloppenburg: Germany's oldest open-air museum, comparable to Museumsdorf Düppel as a living-history site depicting pre-industrial rural life. Relevant for benchmarking open-air heritage programming and immersive education, though regionally focused.

Broad incumbents

• Stiftung Humboldt Forum: The foundation that operates the Humboldt Forum complex and acts as distribution/reseller partner for Berlin Global. Comparable as a larger cultural institution in the same building, with broader ethnographic and cultural programming overlapping the Stadtmuseum's flagship exhibition.
• Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz: Germany's largest cultural foundation, operating the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and related institutions. Comparable as a public-law cultural foundation managing large collections, exhibitions, and research infrastructure across multiple Berlin sites.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/stadtmuseumbln

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about City Museum Berlin Foundation