Berlin Museum Rebrands from Stadtmuseum Berlin, Reviving a Cold War Name

The Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin has rebranded itself as the Berlin Museum, a name that previously belonged to a West Berlin institution from 1962 to 1995. The rebranding, announced by marketing director Marco Barsda Oft, aims for clarity and recognition. However, the foundation's press release omits any mention of the name's historical predecessor. The original Berlin Museum was founded in 1962, a year after the Berlin Wall was built, to serve West Berliners who could no longer visit the Märkische Museum in East Berlin. Under founding director Irmgard Wirth, it quickly built a collection through donations and opened in 1967 in the former Kammergericht building in Kreuzberg. After reunification, the Märkische Museum and Berlin Museum were merged under the Stiftung Stadtmuseum in 1995, but the Berlin Museum building was later transferred to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The Stiftung Stadtmuseum now occupies the Märkische Museum building at Köllnischen Park, which is closed for renovation until 2028. The museum's collection holds approximately 4.5 million objects and documents.