The German minority museum in Sønderborg, the Deutsches Museum Nordschleswig, is undergoing a major expansion that includes both a new building and a renovation of the historic villa on Rønhave Plads. A whole new exhibition concept is also being developed.
Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation is supporting the project with 4 million DKK.
In Southern Jutland we are closely connected with our German neighbours. On both sides of the border, there are minorities with a story to tell. The centenary, which will take place next year, will of course also be supported by Bitten and Mads Clausen’s Foundation. Despite its central location at Rønhave Plads, which is often the very first place in Sønderborg that visitors come to, the museum has been rather overlooked. Bitten and Mads Clausen’s Foundation are funding the renovation of the museum and its exhibitions because of their importance in terms of history, tourism and urban development.
Peter M. Clausen, Chair of Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation
The total cost of the project comes to about 30 million DKK and additional funds have come from the Folketing (the Danish Parliament), the Federal Republic of Germany and the Land of Schleswig-Holstein. The representative of the German minority, Hinrich Jürgensen, is delighted about the funding:
It is really fantastic. We are very pleased with the very generous support from Bitten & Mads Clausen’s Foundation. The funding is a basic prerequisite for carrying out the project.
The plan is that the new museum will open in 2020. The main building is the former Brewery Petersen administration building which is being renovated. At the same time, a building from the 1960s will be demolished and replaced by a new building of 300 square meters.
Within this new facility, the German minority will be telling their own story about the development in the border region in the last 100 years.
