Musée international de la Réforme (MIR)

What Musée international de la Réforme (MIR) does

The Musée international de la Réforme (MIR) is a privately funded, non-profit foundation registered in Geneva, Switzerland, operating as the only secular museum worldwide dedicated to the history of the Protestant Reformation. Founded as a foundation in 2000 and opened to the public in 2005, the museum presents a permanent exhibition titled "Une histoire de la Réforme" across 12 themed rooms featuring more than 350 historical testimonies, including rare artifacts such as portraits of Luther by Cranach, Calvin's personal correspondence, and works related to Bonhoeffer. The museum reopened in April 2023 following a 21-month renovation that introduced new multimedia infrastructure: 14-language audio guides, augmented reality animations on 15 key works (delivered via free iPads at reception), a music room, an animated cartographic installation, and a small cinema (Cinémir) program running since 2017. It supplements the permanent collection with two temporary exhibitions per year, and past shows have included "Rembrandt et la Bible" (extended due to demand), "Calvin in America," "Playing with gods," and the forthcoming "Ferdinand Hodler. Profession de foi" (September 2026 to January 2027).

The museum serves four primary visitor segments: individual and family visitors (general public, including tourists), school groups (booked through Geneva's DIP platform with a 14-day advance requirement), corporate event clients renting the venue for up to 60 guests outside opening hours, and an academic/research community engaging with Huguenot heritage. Its revenue model is hybrid: 76% of operating costs come from private donations (foundations, individuals, companies, plus a US tax-deductible channel via the Presbyterian Foundation), 20% from ticket sales and the on-site boutique (combined tickets with neighboring Espace Saint-Pierre are sold through the SecuTix platform), and 4% from a subsidy from the Canton of Geneva. Distribution relies on the musee-reforme.ch website, a SecuTix-powered ticketing site, on-site box office, earned media in Swiss press (Le Temps, RTS, RSI, Le Matin Dimanche), and a social presence across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Vimeo. Marketing operations are supported by MailChimp for newsletter campaigns, Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel for web analytics, and a community membership program (AMIDUMIR).

Name

Musée international de la Réforme (MIR)

Legal name

Fondation du Musée international de la Réforme

Website

https://musee-reforme.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The MIR is a privately funded, secular Geneva foundation and the only museum worldwide dedicated to the history of the Protestant Reformation. It serves visitors, schools, corporate event clients, and scholars via a permanent collection of 350+ testimonies, AR animations, and rotating temporary exhibitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum Services (Reformation history and cultural heritage)

NAICS

Museums (71211), Historical Sites (712120)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Cultural Heritage Institutions (Archives, Historic Houses, Monuments Foundations) (THAJADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cultural Centers & Multidisciplinary Arts Institutions (THAJADAJ), Arts, Culture, Heritage & Tourism Congresses (THAHAJAN)

Keywords

• Museum services
• Cultural exhibitions
• Guided heritage tours
• Event venue rental
• Educational school visits

Headquarters

HQ city

Geneva

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales and Gift Shop: Entry tickets to the museum and purchases from the museum boutique account for approximately 20% of the museum's operating costs. Revenue is generated from individual and group admissions, special events, and merchandise.
2. Private Donations and Sponsorship: 76% of operating costs are covered through private donations from foundations, individuals, and companies. This includes the International Advisory Board's fundraising activities, particularly for US donors through the Presbyterian Foundation partnership.
3. Public Subsidy: 4% of operating costs are covered by a subsidy from the Canton of Geneva, representing minimal government funding compared to private sources.
4. Venue Rental: The museum can be rented for private events including dinners, conferences, seminars, and general meetings outside of opening hours, providing additional revenue stream.
5. Publications and Catalogues: Sale of exhibition catalogues and publications, including 'Une histoire de la Réforme' catalogue at CHF 32 and exhibition-specific catalogues.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The MIR operates a permanent exhibition on the history of the Protestant Reformation housed in the Maison Mallet in Geneva, complemented by temporary exhibitions, themed guided tours (Saint-Barthélemy, Jean Calvin, Reformation in Geneva, family tours), school visits, and a documentation centre. It also offers the audiovisual CinéMir space, iPad-based augmented-reality animations, an AMIDUMIR membership programme, exhibition catalogues, a museum boutique, and rental of its historic rooms for private events.

Product overview

The Musée international de la Réforme (MIR) is a unique secular museum dedicated to the history of the Protestant Reformation and Protestantism. The core offering is its permanent exhibition 'Une histoire de la Réforme' presented across 12 colorful rooms with over 350 testimonies. The museum supplements this with rotating temporary exhibitions (typically two per year), augmented reality animations on 15 key works (available on free iPads), complimentary audio guides in 14 languages, an on-site cinema program (CinéMir), and guided tours for individuals, families, and schools. The museum also operates a boutique selling exhibition catalogs and merchandise, offers private venue rentals, and maintains a membership organization (AMIDUMIR). Combined tickets with Espace Saint-Pierre and standard entrance tickets are available for purchase.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CinéMIR: Museum cinema program featuring films related to Reformation history and temporary exhibitions since 2017.
• AMIDUMIR

Products and services

• Permanent Exhibition Ticket Single-admission ticket providing access to the MIR's permanent exhibition on the history of the Protestant Reformation, including the audiovisual CinéMir space and the iPad-based augmented-reality animations; intended for individual adult visitors and families.
• Temporary Exhibitions

Quantifiable outcome

• 40+ positive media articles generated for the Rembrandt and the Bible temporary exhibition, demonstrating strong press impact.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève (MAH)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 November 2023Collaborative partnership for temporary exhibitions, most notably 'Rembrandt and the Bible' which featured 61 engravings from MAH's Cabinet d'arts graphiques collection. The joint curatorial effort brought significant cultural value to both institutions.
• International Advisory Board (IAB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Network of international members including Jason R. Bernhard (Huguenot Society of America), Dr. Jean-Jacques de Dardel (former Swiss Ambassador), Dr. Jung-Sook Lee (Torch Trinity Graduate University), Dr. Herman Selderhuis (Refo500), and Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Taylor (Presbyterian Foundation). Mission to promote the museum internationally and support fundraising activities.
• Labor et FidesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublishing partnership for exhibition catalogues including 'Une histoire de la Réforme' (256 pages) and the Rembrandt exhibition catalogue. Co-edition ensures wide distribution of museum publications.
• Musée JenischminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLending institution for the Rembrandt and the Bible exhibition, providing 10 engravings from their collection to complement the 61 from MAH.
• Fondation Jan KrugierminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLending institution contributing 1 engraving to the Rembrandt and the Bible temporary exhibition, demonstrating network of art institutions supporting major exhibitions.
• AMIDUMIR (Friends of the MIR)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMembership organization for supporters of the museum. Members receive benefits including personal invitations to openings, free temporary exhibition tours, and gift shop discounts.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Museum of the Bible: Large-scale privately funded museum in Washington DC dedicated to the history and impact of the Bible. Operates a similar revenue model combining admissions, memberships, and major private donations, and competes for the same religious-heritage visitor and donor pool as MIR, though at much larger scale.
• Wartburg Castle: UNESCO-listed castle in Eisenach, Germany, where Luther translated the New Testament. Operates as both a heritage site and Reformation museum, presenting Reformation-era artifacts and Luther's rooms to visitors, directly overlapping MIR's core subject.
• Luther House / Lutherhalle Wittenberg: The historic Reformation museum at Martin Luther's former residence in Wittenberg, Germany - the most direct peer in subject matter. Both institutions present the history of the Reformation through curated collections, educational programming, and themed exhibitions in historic buildings.

Others

• Refo500: International ecumenical platform for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, with IAB member Dr. Herman Selderhuis as a representative. Comparable as a Reformation-focused thematic network that channels audiences and scholars to partner institutions including MIR.
• Bodleian Libraries: Oxford University's research library and archive with holdings related to Reformation-era manuscripts. Comparable to MIR's archival/scholarly access mission rather than its visitor-experience model, and serves a complementary academic research audience for Reformation studies.

Broad incumbents

• Deutsches Historisches Museum: Germany's national historical museum in Berlin covers German and European history including dedicated Reformation content. A much larger incumbent that shares MIR's educational mission around Reformation heritage but operates at national-museum scale with substantially more public funding.
• British Museum: One of the world's largest encyclopedic museums in London. Compares to MIR on visitor-facing museum operations (audio guides, temporary exhibitions, school programs, retail) but at vastly greater scale and with a global collection rather than a focused Reformation narrative.

Regional players

• Musée Jenisch: Vevey-based Swiss art museum that lent 10 engravings to MIR's Rembrandt exhibition. Comparable as a regional Swiss fine-arts institution targeting similar cultural-tourism and educational audiences in the Lake Geneva region.
• Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève (MAH): Geneva's principal art and history museum and MIR's primary exhibition partner. Operates in the same Geneva market and visitor ecosystem, sharing school group channels and cultural tourism flows, but focuses on broader art and history rather than Reformation.
• Espace Saint-Pierre: Geneva cultural venue sharing a combined ticket offering with MIR. Directly comparable as a Geneva-based cultural/visitor destination competing for overlapping tourist and school group audiences.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubevimeo.com/museedelareforme
• Facebookfacebook.com/MIR.MuseeInternationalDeLaReforme
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mir-musee-international-de-la-reforme
• Instagraminstagram.com/museedelareforme

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Musée international de la Réforme (MIR)