Democratic Worldview

Democracy and the rule of law, peace and freedom – these tenets are personified by the figure of Germania. In 1848–49, the monumental painting hung in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt during sessions of the first Pan-German parliament, where it served as a beacon of hope and the embodiment of a political vision: a united Germany with a shared constitution and fundamental rights for all citizens. In the end, this bold endeavor miscarried. Against this background of initial political failure, the founding of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in 1852 as a national museum of German culture was intended to bring the German-speaking lands together under one roof, at least culturally – a visionary aspiration, and a cultural policy we continue to pursue today with the same faith in strengthening liberal democracy.