The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden Foundation fears for the format and international reputation of the museum in light of the city's plans to make cuts. Reducing the budget by 1.33 million euros would mean "deep cuts" to the existing program, said Director Iris Edenheiser. The special exhibitions in 2025 and 2026, free admission for children and young people, another day of closure and cuts to educational and outreach work would be in question. This would "inevitably and quickly lead to a descent from flagship to mediocrity". The political decision-makers should bear this in mind in their deliberations - and the loss of reputation for the city.
Less program means fewer visitors, less income, less visibility and promotion, Edenheiser described the expected scenario. With these cuts, "the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum will no longer exist in this form in the long term". That would be fatal, especially in these socially difficult times. The minimum funding level would be that of 2004 - 2.5 million euros each from the city and the Free State.
Museum with over a century of history
The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden was founded in 1912 by industrialist Karl August Lingner (1861-1916). The inventor of Odol mouthwash was one of the protagonists of the 1st International Hygiene Exhibition in Dresden in 1911. The collection includes more than 30,000 objects on the history of health education and care, such as the world-famous glass figures.
Since 1999, the museum has been run by a foundation and financed equally by grants from the city and state. In addition to the permanent exhibition on people, there are top-class presentations, including on social issues - and a children's museum. The foundation finances the program, personnel costs and the costs of maintaining the listed building - also from ticket income, rental income and third-party funds for projects and investments. By 2021, the grants from the city and the Free State of Bavaria had risen to 3.165 million euros - but not since then, despite inflation and minimum wage increases as well as the structural underfunding being discussed with the founders.
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