facts and fiction

What facts and fiction does

facts and fiction GmbH is a privately held German creative agency founded in the early 1990s and headquartered in Cologne with a secondary office in Berlin. The firm specializes in spatial communication: the conception, design, and realization of exhibitions, museums, Expo pavilions for world exhibitions, and political communication events. Its core capability combines scenography, exhibition architecture, concept development, project management, and production into a single full-service delivery model, with a dedicated visitor engagement systems offering covering interactive and digital exhibit experiences.

The company's revenue model is project-based professional services, with fees structured around the scope of each exhibition, pavilion, or event engagement. Projects are won through competitive pitches and direct enterprise sales to government ministries, cultural institutions, and international organizations. Notable clients include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, BMUV, BMAS, the European Union, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, the Jordan Investment Commission, Kulturprojekte Berlin, and experimenta gGmbH. Marquee projects span the German, Austrian, and EU Pavilions at Expo 2025 Osaka, multiple national pavilions at Expo 2020 Dubai, and the Humboldt Forum's Berlin Global exhibition.

The firm is independently owned with no external institutional investment, governed by four managing directors (Marco Hückel, Dietmar Jähn, Jörg Krauthäuser, Sven Wolgram) and a nine-person extended management team. It has been EMAS-certified for environmental management since 2023 and holds an extensive industry award portfolio, including the 2026 ADC Grand Prix and German Design Award Gold for the German Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka.

Name

facts and fiction

Legal name

facts and fiction GmbH

Website

https://factsfiction.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

facts and fiction is a Cologne-based German creative agency specializing in spatial communication: designing and realizing exhibitions, museums, World Expo pavilions, and political communication events for government ministries, cultural institutions, and international organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Cologne

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Exhibition and Museum Projects: Project-based fees for development, conception, and design of exhibitions and museums in various sizes, as permanent exhibitions or mobile installations
2. Expo Pavilion Realization: Complete pavilion projects including conception, design, and realization as general planner, through general contracting, or for specific sub-areas
3. Political Communication Events: Event design and execution for ministries, institutions, and associations including targeted communication to general public and specialized target groups

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

facts and fiction is a creative agency that conceives, designs, and realises museums, exhibitions, and Expo pavilions, and designs political communication events. The company provides full project lifecycle services — from strategy and concept development through scenography, exhibition design, multimedia installation, project management, and on-site realisation — for government ministries, cultural institutions, and international organisations.

Product overview

facts and fiction is a full-service creative agency specializing in spatial communication, exhibition design, and immersive experience creation. The company operates as a project-based service provider rather than a software product company. Their core service offering encompasses the conception, design, and realization of museums and exhibitions, Expo pavilions for world exhibitions, visitor engagement systems, and political communication events. The company works with clients including government ministries, cultural institutions, and international organizations to create physical and experiential exhibition spaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museums and Exhibitions Design End-to-end development, conception and design of museums and exhibitions in various sizes for cultural institutions, delivered as permanent exhibitions or mobile installations. Serves museums, cultural foundations, and science centres that need to engage visitors with complex cultural or scientific content through immersive, sensorial environments.
• Pavilions for World Exhibitions Conception, design and realisation of complete Expo pavilions as well as customised sub-area exhibitions, delivered as general planner, through general contracting, or for specific sub-areas. Serves national governments, investment commissions, chambers of commerce, and supranational bodies commissioning national or institutional representation at World Expos.
• Political Communication Events Design and execution of political communication events for ministries, institutions and associations, addressing general public audiences as well as selected target groups with specialised interests. Includes themed festival programmes, ministerial open days, and policy-themed exhibitions.
• Visitor Engagement Systems Design of visitor engagement systems that establish interaction, proximity, identification and understanding between content and audiences as part of museums, exhibitions, pavilions and political communication events.

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Jordan Investment CommissioncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2020Client partner for the Jordan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. facts and fiction conceptualized and designed the scenography, exhibition, and visitor experience for the pavilion.
• Über den Tellerrand e. V.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Non-profit organization that participated in the BMAS Open Day events with an outdoor cooking studio designed by facts and fiction, bringing people and cultures together culinarily.
• bwm ArchitektencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVienna-based architecture firm responsible for the architecture of the Austrian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka. facts and fiction was commissioned to develop and design the exhibition inside the pavilion.
• NüssliminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerImplementation partner responsible for constructing the Austrian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, working alongside facts and fiction who handled exhibition design.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Tellart: Providence/Seattle studio focused on interactive and digital-experience design for museums and brands; narrower focus on digital/interactive layer of exhibitions versus facts and fiction's full-scope scenography, but directly comparable on Expo and museum interactive installations.

Direct peers

• Casson Mann: London-based exhibition and gallery design practice behind projects such as the British Museum's Sir Percival David Gallery and First World War galleries; comparable in delivering narrative museum and visitor-experience commissions.
• Ralph Appelbaum Associates: New York-headquartered global leader in museum and visitor-center exhibition design, with comparable clients (national museums, presidential libraries, science centers) and similar end-to-end conceptual-to-installation services.
• Mather & Co: UK-based visitor experience design firm that designs and produces museum, heritage, and interpretive exhibitions (e.g., Mary Rose Museum); similar combined content-and-spatial design model serving cultural and institutional clients.
• Thinc Design: New York-based experience design firm behind the 9/11 Museum Exhibition and other large-scale museum and interpretive installations; directly comparable in delivering narrative-driven cultural exhibitions of similar scope.
• Batwin + Robin Productions: Philadelphia-based experiential design firm producing exhibitions, branded environments, and immersive installations for museums and corporate clients; overlapping with facts and fiction's scenography + interactive media offering.
• Local Projects: NY-based experience-design firm designing interactive museum and exhibition environments (e.g., National September 11 Memorial Museum, Cooper Hewitt), directly comparable in immersive media-installation and visitor-engagement capabilities.
• Atelier Brückner: Stuttgart-based exhibition design studio widely regarded as facts and fiction's closest German peer, specializing in museum, brand, and Expo scenography with projects for BMW Welt, Musée de l'Homme, and Expo 2000/2010/2015 pavilions.

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Largest independent design consultancy, with overlapping brand-experience and exhibition-identity work; broader portfolio than facts and fiction but competes for the same high-profile cultural and government branding projects.

Regional players

• HPP Architekten: Major Düsseldorf-based architecture practice active in German cultural and museum construction, occasionally co-developing pavilion or museum projects with exhibition designers; comparable German market footprint to facts and fiction.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/THISISFACTSANDFICTION
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/factsandfiction

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about facts and fiction