Germany’s museums are not only cultural institutions but also tools for international engagement. The country’s Agency for International Museum Cooperation works with museums in Germany and abroad to promote exchanges, share expertise and build relationships through art.
One of the country’s less widely known institutions is Berlin’s Brücke Museum, set beside a small woodland in Dahlem. Opened in 1967, it holds one of the world’s largest collections of German Expressionist art, including works by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, members of the Die Brücke movement.
The museum combines works central to the movement with contemporary art displayed in its surrounding woodland. The collection includes Schmidt-Rottluff’s “Walk” and Kirchner’s “Nude Combing Her Hair”; outdoor sculptures include works by Jenny Kendler and El Conde de Torrefiel. David Bowie also visited the museum, seeking inspiration in its pastoral setting.
The Brücke Museum is one of 6,673 museums in Germany. The country recorded 107 million visits to museums in 2024, according to a report by the Institute for Museum Research. A separate survey covering 2023 found that 56.7% of museums received fewer than 5,000 visitors, while 5% welcomed more than 100,000.
Established three years ago by the German government, the Agency for International Museum Cooperation advises municipal and state institutions on increasing their visibility. It offers funding for international exchanges of collections and specialists, advises foreign museums seeking to expand their international reach, and helps institutions strengthen their finances. The agency is affiliated with Germany’s Foreign Ministry.
Its director, Silke Krummel, describes museum diplomacy as a way to create meaningful connections that extend beyond economic and political exchanges. Museums, she says, can use objects to tell stories and address major issues, while exercising “soft power” by persuading people without force.
Museums in Germany rank highly for public trust, according to a survey by the Institute for Museum Research published two years ago. They placed behind only family and friends and ahead of science and the media. Krummel says museums can help counter chauvinism, manipulation and disinformation as national self-interest grows.
The agency also supports the circulation of exhibitions and loans of works to other countries, and connects experts from different nations. Its stated aim is to make museums more visible as diplomatic actors and to present the quality and range of their collections.
The work takes place alongside growing debate over the return of cultural objects taken during colonial rule or more recently smuggled from their countries of origin. Germany has established a body to receive repatriation requests. In Stuttgart, the Linden Museum, known for its ethnological collection, reached an agreement with Nigeria to return cultural objects looted in the 19th century.
Krummel says restitution requires dialogue: institutions must listen to and understand both what their collections contain and the expectations of partner museums and communities.
Sources: Folha Ilustrada.