Germany’s digital museum project gets extension and additional funding

The pandemic has made the need for digitalization of museums even more apparent

Museums and museum umbrella organizations in Germany have gathered and reached a decision for the extension of the Museum4Punkt0 project. Through it, further digital offers for museums in Germany can be developed. The project, which was initially set to run for three years, will be funded by the federal government with ten million euros in the coming year, as the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation announced on Monday in Berlin.

Digitalization of culture in times of corona

On top of the announcement for the project’s continuation, 10 new museums will join the six partners with their projects. On the museum map of Germany, the spectrum ranges from the German Marine Museum in Stralsund to the Carnival Museum in Bad Dürrheim.

The aim is to develop digitally based new variants for museums with which visitors to museums can interact and learn from. Results and experiences from the sub-projects are also made available to other museums via the joint network in order to support smaller venues in implementing digital offers. This includes virtual reality applications, virtually supported personal tours or apps for object exploration.

"Especially in times of pandemics, the desire of many museums to reach people with suitable digital offers is evident," said Monika Hagedorn-Saupe, Head of the pilot project museum4punkt0 from the Institute for Museum Research. Oftentimes, however, there are insufficient resources available for this. The task is therefore to provide project results in the long term and in the best possible way. "Expert knowledge only takes effect when others participate," she concluded.

By adopting more smart initiatives and implementing them in the field of culture, Germany is gearing up for the long haul – growing more resilient and learning to live with the virus for a prolonged period of time.