Jewish Museum Berlin Sets New Record
Press Information
Press Release, Fri 7 Jan 2011
2010 Saw More Visitors than any Year so far
The Jewish Museum Berlin sets a new record: In 2010, more visitors came to the museum than in any other year since it opened. The museum’s services were used by 762,488 people in 2010 – 6,813 more than the previous year and an average of 2,112 visitors per day. That exceeds the record of 2008, when 758,000 visitors were counted while in 2009, 755,000 people visited the museum despite the global economic crisis.
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Since it opened in September 2001, more than 6.7 million people have visited the Jewish Museum Berlin, which awaits its seven millionth visitor next May. The overall development of visitor numbers since the opening in 2001 is notable. A drop in visitors could have been expected one to two years after opening. The Jewish Museum Berlin, however, not only saw a further increase in visitor numbers in its third year (2004), but has been able to sustain this trend and boast 100,000 more visitors last year than in its first year – that is a 16 % increase.
The months with the highest visitor numbers were July (77,000) and August (85,000), the busiest August on record. Even compared to all the months so far, only October 2001, the month after the museum opened, saw more visitors than August 2010. This impressive figure is not only down to the many tourists Berlin welcomes in summer – more Berliners than usual also made their way to Lindenstr. in Kreuzberg.
The museum is pleased to report a general increase in local visitors: In 2009, 7 % of visitors were Berliners compared to the almost double 13 % in 2010. In particular, the special exhibition "Heroes, Freaks, and Super-Rabbis. The Jewish Dimension of Comic Art" was a magnet for local visitors last year. Tourists still make up the lion’s share of total visitor numbers at 87 %; two thirds come from abroad and 20 % from Germany. Alongside Daniel Libeskind’s architecture, the permanent exhibition "Two Millennia of German-Jewish History" is the main focus of interest, followed by changing special exhibitions and cultural events.
The average age of visitors remains remarkably young for a historical museum: Every fifth visitor was under 18 last year. Most of these young visitors came as part of a school trip; the museum’s educational program is in strong demand with this age group. In 2010, a total of over 7,000 tours were booked.
