Filmmuseum

Description

In the Marstall of the Potsdam City Palace, Filmmuseum Potsdam presents the history of film with a clear regional focus: its collections and exhibitions concentrate on the film city of Babelsberg and the productions made there.

The museum is housed in the historic Marstall and is organisationally affiliated with the Filmuniversität „Babelsberg Konrad Wolf“; since 1991 it has been under the sponsorship of the State of Brandenburg. In addition to the displays in the Marstall, a new building for collections and restoration at Marlene-Dietrich-Allee 12 was opened in 2022. The additional 6,300 m² provide space for research, teaching and a public display depot in the centre of the media city Babelsberg.

The museum’s origins go back to a resolution by the Potsdam city council in 1977. It opened in 1981 under the name „Filmmuseum der DDR“; early exhibitions dealt with film technology as well as the history of Ufa and DEFA. After German reunification, collecting activities, research and the programme were significantly expanded. In 1991 the State of Brandenburg assumed responsibility, and in the early 1990s the interior was renovated and a historic cinema organ installed; in 2011 the current permanent exhibition „Traumfabrik – 100 Jahre Film in Babelsberg“ was opened. The museum is a member of the Deutscher Kinematheksverbund.

The Filmmuseum’s content focuses on films, production technology and the artists who worked in Babelsberg, including works from the eras of Bioscop, Ufa, DEFA and Studio Babelsberg. The collections comprise photographs, set and costume designs, models, props, costumes, production documents, as well as posters, programme booklets and press material. More than 200 estates and closed collections are complemented by oral history interviews; a video archive, a library and extensive film-technical holdings with written documentation and patents are available for scholarly use. The holdings are catalogued by personal names and film titles, as well as in alphabetical and numerical indexes.

The museum also includes a cinema hall in the Marstall where historic films and selected current productions are shown; silent films are musically accompanied by the historic cinema organ.