Museum of European Cultures

The Museum of European Cultures came into existence in 1999, created by merging the 110 year old Museum für Volkskunde (Museum of Folklore) with the European collection of the later-founded Ethnologisches Museum (Ethnological Museum). Comprising a total of around 27,000 objects, the Museum of European Cultures houses one of the world’s largest collections of European ethnographic studies and cultural history. Since 8th May 2005, the museum (previously located at "Im Winkel") is re-opened at its new domicile in the Bruno-Paul-Bau (Bruno-Paul-Building) in Dahlem, where it can be entered from Arnimallee 25 or Lansstraße 8.

The collection
The collection of the Museum of European Cultures is focused on European everyday culture from the eighteenth century to the present. Its highlights include the spectacular mechanical nativity model from the Erzgebirge mountains, which is displayed each year during advent time, as well as the European Christmas and Easter markets. Annual "Culture Days" each focus on a different region of Europe.

With its move to the Dahlem Museums complex – where it joins the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of East Asian Art and the Museum of Indian Art, all under one roof – the Museum of European Cultures will broaden and enrich its discourse through the encounter with extra-European cultures.