Happy 30th birthday to the Stiftung Stadtmuseum!
The Stadtmuseum Foundation, which runs three museums in the Nikolai Quarter alone, celebrated its 30th anniversary in June. Good enough reason to take a look at the museum’s past and present.
On June 19, the Stiftung Stadtmuseum celebrated its 30th birthday with a ceremony in the Nikolaikirche. There were speeches from Sarah Wedl-Wilson (Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion), Sophie Plagemann (Director, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin), Birgit Bosold (Director, Schwules Museum Berlin) and Hetty Berg (Director, Jewish Museum Berlin), followed by a panel discussion and a festive finale with music and a champagne reception. Just two days later, the celebrations also took place in public: with a large museum festival as part of the Fête de la Musique. There was a multifaceted program with workshops, guided tours and, of course, lots of music in front of and inside the three locations of the Stadtmuseum in the Nikolai quarter.
The Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin was founded on June 23, 1995 as a foundation under public law. Several private and public museums, which were dedicated to Berlin’s urban and cultural history and had previously been run by various sponsoring organizations, came under a new, mutual umbrella. In the early years, the Jewish Museum Berlin was also part of the Stadtmuseum Foundation, but it was transferred into a federal foundation in 2001.
From 1995, the East Berlin Museum of Hairdressing also belonged to the Stadtmuseum Foundation. After its closure in 2005, around 6,000 objects from the hairdressing trade can now be seen in the Märkisches Museum. From combs, wigs and flacons to two impressive styling stations once used by the court barber Haby. There is so much to learn and experience – not only about the history of the city itself, but also about the people who shaped it over the centuries and filled it with life, as well as its merchants and craftsmen.
If 6,000 objects relating to the hairdressing trade alone are not impressive enough: the Stadtmuseum Foundation has a total of around 4.5 million objects in its collection. What is not stored in the central depot is available to the public in numerous exhibitions in the foundation’s museums:
Museum Ephraim-Palais (exhibitions on Berlin’s history and culture, currently running the exhibition “BerlinZEIT – Die Stadt macht Geschichte!”),
Museum Nikolaikirche (focus on the 800-year history and culture of Berlin’s Mitte area. The special exhibition “Dekoloniale – was bleibt?” (Decolonial – what remains?!) is running there until 14.9.
Museum Knoblauchhaus (Berlin home culture and lifestyle in the Biedermeier period in the reconstructed home of the Knoblauch family).
These three museums are located in the Nikolai quarter, just a few steps away from each other.
In Berlin-Mitte, the Stiftung Stadtmuseum also operates the Märkisches Museum, the Berlin exhibition in the Humboldt Forum and, after its planned completion in 2028, the Marinehaus at Köllnischer Park. Finally, in Nikolassee, in the south-west of Berlin, there is the Düppel Museum Village, a reconstructed medieval village that provides fascinating insights into life 800 years ago, including old crops, re-bred domestic animal breeds and medieval crafts.
Are you curious to learn more? You can find much more information about all the museums on their website. Or visit the three locations in the Nikolai Quarter: the Ephraim-Palais Museum, the Nikolai Church Museum and the Knoblauchhaus Museum.
Our tip: visit the museums on their “action day” which takes place on the first Sunday of every month and offers a colorful and particularly varied program. The €15 combined ticket is valid for all three museums and admission is free for children, juveniles and many others.