Mainz State Museum, Directorate-General of the Cultural Heritage of Rhineland-Palatinate

The Landesmuseum Mainz is one of the oldest museums in Germany and is now the cultural history museum in Rhineland-Palatinate. Its extensive collections of art and cultural history today include paintings, sculptures and prints from the Middle Ages to the present, archaeological finds from Mainz and Rhine-Hessia dating back to Roman times, pre- and proto-historic artifacts, crafts from the region as well as Jewish cultural objects. Several scientists manage the collections and work on their development.

Science is of particular importance within the four core tasks of a museum - collecting, preserving, researching and presenting - as it is the basis for the other traditional tasks. The scientific engagement with the art and cultural history of the region makes it possible to define a collection strategy, which ultimately also decides what is worth preserving or collecting and what is not. Restoration as well must be based on a multi-dimensional assessment of the object, the historicity and significance of which must be considered when taking preserving measures.  Exhibitions are more than just displaying; rather, they mean that this representation of connections generates new impressions and new knowledge. Scientific preparation is also essential for this. The Landesmuseum Mainz is increasingly pursuing an interdisciplinary approach. Universities and non-university institutions are important cooperation partners. Research projects such as the Great Jupiter Column in Mainz, provenance research or the Max Slevogt Research Center are important topics that can only succeed in close cooperation and alliances with other scientific institutions. At the same time, the museum employees support a variety of projects from external partners with various exhibits, image sources and their specialist knowledge.

The State Museum offers science originals as primary sources, which can be questioned again and again and, if properly preserved, this quality can also be offered to future generations. Finally, the Landesmuseum Mainz complies with the statutory mandate to enable all citizens to participate in the cultural heritage through high standards of communication quality, through an active, target-group-specific approach to the entire social spectrum of the population, if possible, and through a comprehensive understanding of accessibility.