Art or Technology—What Are the Most Common Types of Museums?
The Swiss Museum of Transport welcomed over 1 million visitors in 2023, while the Kunstmuseum Basel recorded 310,000 visitors during the same period. What is the ratio of the different types of museums?
We compile the latest studies on museums in German-speaking countries. These studies provide fascinating statistics that offer insight into visitor numbers, as well as working conditions and structures within museums.
Insightful Statistics: The Distribution of Museums
Surprise! The majority of museums are dedicated to neither art history nor the history of technology. Did you know that a whopping 43.6% of museums in Germany and 32.2% of Swiss museums are regional museums?
While larger institutions are probably better known, the majority of museums are smaller institutions with a regional and local focus. Here are the key figures by museum type:
Germany 🇩🇪
📍6,809 museums
👉 46.6% Regional and local museums
👉 14.9% Cultural history
👉 13.0% Natural sciences + technology
👉 10.6% Art museums
👉 7.8% Historical and archaeological museums
👉 4.4% Natural history museums
👉 4.2% Castle and fortress museums
👉 2.0% Other
Switzerland 🇨🇭
📍1,081 museums
👉 32.2% Regional and local museums
👉 15.0% Art museums
👉 13.6% Technical museums
👉 11.1% History museums
👉 5.5% Science museums
👉 2.4% Archaeological museums
👉 1.4% Ethnographic museums
👉 18.9% Other
To make things even clearer, we’ve summarized the data in a chart.
Regional museums make up the majority of museums
Distribution of Museums by Type in Switzerland, 2021
Distribution of Museums by Type in Germany, 2021
For more information:
Many institutions rely on volunteer work: The proportion of volunteers is particularly high in regional and local museums (82.0% in Switzerland). This proportion is nearly twice as high as in science museums (46.0%) or art museums (41.2%).
Nearly one in five (18.9%) museums in Switzerland falls under the category “other museums,” which are generally dedicated to a single theme that cannot be assigned to any other category (e.g., a frog museum or a toy museum).
Sources: Federal Statistical Office (FSO) / Institute for Museum Research
