Weserburg

What Weserburg does

Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, legally Stiftung Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen, is a private civil-law foundation (Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts) operating a single-site contemporary art museum on Teerhof island in Bremen, Germany. Founded in 1991, the museum is led by Director Janneke de Vries and Commercial Director Imke Itzen with a lean staff of six employees. Its core proposition combines rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art with the Zentrum für Künstlerpublikationen (Center for Artists' Publications), a research archive described as unique in Europe, housing over 300,000 works from more than 27,000 artists across approximately 100 archives, collections, and estates covering 17 genres from artist books to net art.

Name

Weserburg

Legal name

Stiftung Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen

Website

https://weserburg.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Weserburg is a Bremen-based private foundation operating a contemporary art museum and Europe's leading archive and research center for artists' publications, serving general visitors, schools, scholars, and corporate clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Museum

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums (712110)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Museums (THAJADAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH)

Keywords

• Contemporary art museum
• Artist publications archive
• Exhibition programming
• Cultural education programs
• Museum venue rental

Headquarters

HQ city

Bremen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Museum Admission: Visitors pay admission fees to access the museum's exhibitions and collections. Standard admission applies; guided tours are included in the ticket price.
2. Retail Shop (Publikationen, Kataloge, Editionen): The museum operates a shop selling publications, exhibition catalogs, posters, and exclusive Weserburg editions. Orders are placed via email; there is no automated online checkout.
3. Room Rental (Vermietung): The museum rents out its spaces for private events (celebrations) and corporate events, providing venue hire services for various occasions.
4. Institutional Funding & Grants: As a foundation (Stiftung), Weserburg receives institutional funding and project-based grants from public and private bodies including the Land Bremen, Kulturstiftung der Länder, Karin und Uwe Hollweg Stiftung, VolkswagenStiftung, and others.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Weserburg operates a museum for modern and contemporary art in Bremen, Germany, presenting rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art combined with guided tours, educational programs, and a café. Its flagship asset is the Zentrum für Künstlerpublikationen, a unique-in-Europe archive, research institute, and exhibition venue holding 300,000+ works from 27,000+ artists across approximately 100 archives and collections, including the Sound Collection Guy Schraenen. Ancillary paid offerings include a museum shop selling publications and exclusive editions, room rental for corporate and private events, and a 30,000+ title reference library.

Product overview

Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst is a single-site museum offering a unified portfolio of cultural services. Its core offering comprises rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, complemented by the unique Zentrum für Künstlerpublikationen (Center for Artists' Publications), which houses over 300,000 works from more than 27,000 artists. Additional services include a museum shop, guided tours, educational programs, café, library, room rental, and digital content like podcasts. The Sound Collection Guy Schraenen represents a significant specialized collection of sound art. The museum operates as a cultural institution rather than a technology platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum Exhibitions (Ausstellungen) Rotating exhibitions of modern and contemporary art presented throughout the museum galleries, featuring works from the permanent collection and special exhibitions such as 'Anys Reimann Mirrorball' and 'Die Tödliche Doris.' Open to the general public during regular museum hours.
• Zentrum für Künstlerpublikationen (Center for Artists' Publications) Europe-unique archive, research institute, and exhibition venue dedicated to artist publications, containing 300,000+ works from 27,000+ artists across 17 genres and approximately 100 archives, collections, and estates; serves researchers, curators, students, and the public.
• Museum Shop

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 300,000 published artworks from 27,000+ artists accessible for research and exhibition
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Forschungsverbund Künstlerpublikationen (Research Association Artists' Publications)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Research Association Artists' Publications is a formal research consortium founded by scientists from the University of Bremen, Jacobs University Bremen, Hochschule für Künste, Forschungsstelle Osteuropa, and the Studienzentrum für Künstlerpublikationen / Weserburg. It aims to establish fundamental research on artist publications as a new academic field, promote junior researchers through theses and dissertations, and hosts lectures, the series 'Theoretische Tropen,' and international symposiums.
• Universität Bremen (University of Bremen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Bremen is the primary academic partner, contributing through the Institute for Art History and Art Education (Fachbereich 9). The Zentrum für Künstlerpublikationen is institutionally funded by and integrated with the university, which provides seminars, student internships, and joint research projects.
• Hochschule für Künste Bremen (HfK Bremen)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHfK Bremen is a key partner providing interdisciplinary seminars held at the Zentrum. Joint projects include 'Artists as Independent Publishers' with students from Bremen, Vienna, London, Bergen, and Stockholm. The partnership supports both teaching and exhibition programming.
• MGLC – Internationales grafisches Zentrum LjubljanaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMGLC Ljubljana is a partner in the Artists' Publications Network (artists-pub.eu), a European portal for artist publications that fosters cross-institutional networking and collaboration across the field of artist publications.
• CNEAI – Centre national de l'estampe et de l'art imprimé, ChatouminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNEAI Chatou is a partner in the Artists' Publications Network (artists-pub.eu), collaborating on European networking, research, and the exchange of knowledge on artist publications across institutional boundaries.
• ORF-Kunstradio, WienminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerORF-Kunstradio (Austrian Radio) is a long-term partner for radio art programming. The Weserburg collaborated on exhibitions such as 'Über das Radio hinaus – 25 Jahre Kunstradio – Radiokunst' (2012–2013), drawing on ORF's institutional expertise in radio art.
• Radio BremenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRadio Bremen (specifically Hans Otte's department) was instrumental in bringing John Cage and radio art to Bremen. The museum holds the Radio Bremen fonds in its collection and collaborates on exhibitions related to radio art and sound art.
• Forschungsstelle Osteuropa an der Universität BremenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen is a founding member of the Forschungsverbund Künstlerpublikationen and collaborates on research into Eastern European artist publications and networks, including exhibitions such as Yuri Albert (2014).
• Artpool Art Research Center, BudapestminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtpool in Budapest, one of seven major European archives for artist publications, partnered with Weserburg for the exhibition 'Artpool – Aktives Archiv zeitgenössischer Kunst in Ungarn' (2017), showcasing Eastern European artist publications.
• Poetry on the Road (literature festival)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe international literature festival Poetry on the Road collaborates with Weserburg on exhibitions and events at the intersection of literature and art, including 'Poetry goes Photography' (2015) and exhibitions featuring poets and visual artists.
• Freie Universität BerlinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFreie Universität Berlin has collaborated with Weserburg on multiple exhibition and symposium projects, including 'Unter dem Radar' (2015) and 'Reloaded – Konkrete Tendenzen heute' (2015), providing academic coordination and research support.
• Brokken-Zijp Foundation of Modern and Contemporary Art (BFA), NetherlandsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe BFA (Netherlands) collaborated on the exhibition 'herman de vries – Taken from Nature' (2018), lending works from their collection of the artist's publications and editions to Weserburg.
• Die Vielen (The Many)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWeserburg is a signatory of the Bremer Erklärung der Vielen, a commitment by Bremen art and cultural institutions to uphold openness, diversity, and tolerance. This represents a civic partnership in support of cultural values.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• mumok Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien: Vienna's museum of modern art, also a Stiftung Ludwig. Comparable as a European foundation-based museum focused on modern and contemporary art with international research activity.
• Museum Ludwig: Major German contemporary art museum in Cologne. Operates in the same modern/contemporary art space as Weserburg but at significantly larger scale and with a broader collection scope, making it a broad incumbent reference point.
• Pinakothek der Moderne: Munich-based modern and contemporary art museum. Comparable as a major German modern art institution, though substantially larger and with a broader curatorial mandate than Weserburg's specialized focus.

Regional players

• Kunsthalle Bremen: Direct local peer in Bremen exhibiting modern and contemporary art. Operates in the same city and visitor base, providing a regional benchmark for programming and audience overlap.

Direct peers

• Van Abbemuseum: Eindhoven-based contemporary art museum with a strong collection focus on post-war movements and artists' publications-adjacent holdings. Comparable in mission, mid-size European museum scale, and emphasis on experimental contemporary programming.
• Museum Abteiberg: Mönchengladbach-based contemporary art museum known for pioneering exhibitions of post-1945 art movements. Comparable in collection scope, contemporary art focus, and German mid-sized museum scale.
• ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe: A German museum for art and media technology, similar to Weserburg in combining a permanent collection, exhibition programming, and research activity at the intersection of contemporary art and specialized media. Comparable in scale and German institutional context.
• CNEAI Centre National de l'Estampe et de l'Art Imprimé: Chatou-based French center dedicated to printmaking and artists' publications. Already a partner in the Artists' Publications Network; directly comparable in mission to Weserburg's Zentrum für Künstlerpublikationen.
• Artpool Art Research Center: Budapest-based archive and research center for Fluxus, Mail Art, and conceptual art, also a Weserburg partner. Highly comparable in archive-and-exhibition model and Eastern European artist publication focus.
• MGLC International Centre for Graphic Arts: Ljubljana-based center for graphic arts and printmaking that is already a direct partner in Weserburg's Artists' Publications Network. Both institutions focus on print-based and publication-based contemporary art with archive, exhibition, and research missions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/WeserburgBremen
• Facebookfacebook.com/weserburg
• Instagraminstagram.com/weserburg_museum/?hl=de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/weserburg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Weserburg