Museums strengthen democracy

Location

Current political events at home and abroad are putting the cohesion of our society to the test. War, a strengthening right-wing, anti-Semitism and anti-democratic sentiments are leading to division and polarisation in society. As public institutions and educational centres, museums work on behalf of and in the service of a democratic society. They convey complex content and diverse value systems, contextualise current events, engage academically with polarising topics and create space for discourse.

However, politics and funding organisations repeatedly intervene in the work of museums, and there is a fine line between this and legitimate control. In addition, museums in all federal states are increasingly confronted with anti-democratic attacks. Museums must deal with these developments in good time in order to recognise the scope for action and develop measures and instruments to counteract them. At the same time, museums must utilise their potential as democratic actors even more, become more courageous, take a stand and have an impact on society with participative and discursive offerings.

The Annual Conference 2025 will strengthen museums as democratic actors. It will examine how museums can limit the influence of politics and sponsors, what measures museums can take to proactively arm themselves against anti-democratic sentiment and what museums can do to counter polarisation and emotionalisation in society. The conference will provide legally compliant information, an exchange of experiences, examples and practical recommendations.

With around 800 participants in person and online, the annual conference of the German Museums Association is the largest museum conference in Germany. It offers specialist presentations and an exchange of experiences on current museum topics as well as the opportunity to network with museum experts from Germany and abroad.