Celebration Tip: July 12 – Museum Anniversary on Maximilianstraße in Munich
Museum Fünf Kontinente Anniversary Festival – 100 Years of the Museum Fünf Kontinente on Maximilianstraße – Here is the official program!
Sunday, July 12, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. – in and around the museum... (Free admission) (Deutsch)
Munich. Summer brings not only a diverse program to the Museum Fünf Kontinente but also a special reason to celebrate: July 12, 2026, marks the 100th anniversary of the day the Museum Fünf Kontinente moved into its current home. Founded in 1862/68 as the Ethnographic Collection, the museum relocated in 1926 from the gallery building in the Hofgarten—its original site—to the prestigious building at Maximilianstraße 42, and has since been an integral part of Munich’s museum landscape. The museum is celebrating this wonderful milestone on July 12 with a grand festival for everyone, featuring free admission! A varied daily program offering inspiration, opportunities for exchange, and a great atmosphere awaits visitors. Highlights include live music, a poetry slam in the newly designed *disKursraum*, street art by Fio Silva and Sake ink, an impressive "trash mask" performance by Eddy Ekete, short tours of various exhibitions, and a guided look behind the scenes of the museum. For younger visitors, there are graffiti workshops in collaboration with Kunstlabor 2 and a museum scavenger hunt. The museum garden also invites visitors to linger: it is opening its doors especially for the day, offering a chance to relax with food and drinks from Café Vista and the La Cometa food truck.
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Munich: Maximilianstrasse 42, Museum Fünf Kontinente, entrance,
Photo: Helga Waess (Press Archive)
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Starting July 9, 2026, we will also be hosting street artists Fio Silva and Sake ink.
From July 9 to 12, they will create a mural on our exterior wall (corner of Knöbelstraße and Thomas-Wimmer-Ring) titled *Un seul jardin* – "A Single Garden."
Admission is free.
All exhibitions are open to the public free of charge.
The Program
2:00 PM | Foyer
Ceremonial cutting of the 100th-anniversary birthday cake
with Museum Director Dr. Uta Werlich
2:30 PM | Inside and outside the museum
Performance by Congolese artist Eddy Ekete featuring a newly created
mask-costume made from waste materials
3:00–4:00 PM | *disKursraum* (Discussion Room), 2nd Floor
"From Bavaria to the World" Poetry Slam with Rune Vollbehr, Moses Wolff,
and Pegah Meggendorfer
4:00 PM | *disKursraum* (Discussion Room), 2nd Floor
Panel discussion: "Who Works at the Museum Fünf Kontinente? – A Look
Behind the Scenes," moderated by Susanne Hermanski
From 10:00 AM | Exterior wall at the rear of the building (Knöbelstraße,
corner of Thomas-Wimmer-Ring)
"*Un seul jardin* – A Single Garden"
Creation of a double-wall mural by street artists
Fio Silva and Sake ink
10:00 AM – 6:00 PM | *Weißraum* (White Room), 2nd Floor
Exhibition of Virtual Reality works by XR Hub Bavaria in
cooperation with the Chair of Architectural Informatics at TUM:
Experience objects from the Museum Fünf Kontinente in virtual
space.
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. | White Room, 2nd Floor
Participatory Pop-Up Archive – Museum Fünf Kontinente #OurMFK:
Contribute to our growing media wall!
6 p.m. – 9 p.m. | Under the arcades
"München Altın Gün" – Get-together organized jointly with
Batuhan Ezer from Türkenstraße
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| Entrance to the Museum Fünf Kontinente in Munich, Photo: Helga Waess (Press Archive) |
Program especially for children and families
10:30 a.m. / 1:30 p.m. / 4 p.m. | Museum Garden
"My statement against racism"
Graffiti workshop for children aged 10 and up, in collaboration with Kunstlabor 2
Registration: Email to kunstvermittlung@mfk-weltoffen.de
Cost: €7 material fee
11 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Throughout the building
"What’s the same? What’s different?"
Exciting museum scavenger hunt for children aged 6 and up,
accompanied by an adult
Participation is free. No registration required.
2 p.m. – 5 p.m. | Workshop of Cultures (Werkstatt der Kulturen), 1st Floor
"Creating a colorful mosaic"
Open workshop with Mai Han Bergmann for children aged
6 and up, accompanied by an adult
Registration: No registration required
Cost: €7 material fee
Short tours of the exhibitions
11 a.m. | Permanent exhibition: Sub-Saharan Africa, 2nd Floor
Dialogue tour with curator Dr. Stefan Eisenhofer and Eddy Ekete
on the significance of masquerade costumes in African societies
11:30 a.m. | Special exhibition: Krishna. Religion, Art, and
Pop Culture, 1st Floor
Short tour with curator Anne Hartig, Ph.D./J.N. Univ. New Delhi
...focusing on the Krishna Swing
1:30 PM | Fresco Hall, 1st Floor
Short tour with provenance researcher PD Dr. Richard Hölzl focusing on a
fresco depicting the Nuremberg patrician Martin Behaim
2:30 PM | Permanent Exhibition: Sub-Saharan Africa, 2nd Floor
Short tour with provenance researcher PD Dr. Richard Hölzl focusing on
an antelope mask from Tanzania
3:00 PM | Special Exhibition: Krishna – Religion, Art, and Pop Culture
1st Floor
Short tour with curator Anne Hartig (Ph.D., J.N. Univ. New Delhi)
focusing on an elaborately designed temple hanging (Pichwai)
3:30 PM | Fresco Hall, 1st Floor
Short tour with provenance researcher PD Dr. Richard Hölzl focusing on a
fresco depicting the Nuremberg patrician Martin Behaim
5:00 PM | Permanent Exhibition: Southwest Asia and North Africa, 1st Floor
Short tour with curator Dr. Anahita Mittertrainer focusing on a
stag-shaped aquamanile
Music
12 pm – 6 pm | Foyer
Beats by DJ Süperfly
1 pm | Permanent exhibition "Sub-Saharan Africa" (2nd floor)
Musical program featuring Nigerian pop singer Prince
White (in cooperation with Bellevue di Monaco)
2 pm | Permanent exhibition "Southwest Asia and North Africa" (1st floor)
Poetry slam, discussion space, Gora Mohamed, 100th Anniversary Festival of the Museum Fünf Kontinente (Maximilianstraße, Munich), live music, museum scavenger hunt, ethnology provenance research online
July 12 – Museum Anniversary in Munich
Live music with Gora Mohamed (in cooperation with Bellevue di
Monaco)
Culinary Offerings and Chill-out Area
10 am – 6 pm | Museum Café "Café Vista"
Fine cakes, meals, and drinks
11 am – 6 pm | Museum Garden
"La Cometa" food truck serving Mexican specialties and
drinks
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| Formerly: Museum für Völkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology); today:
"Museum Fünf Kontinente" (Museum of Five Continents) at Maximilianstraße
42, Munich. Photo: Helga Waess (2011), press archive |
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On the art and culture blog regarding the museum's collection:
Press release on the program in Munich – Ethnology provenance research – Museum Fünf Kontinente – Munich: The inventory books of the "Museum Fünf Kontinente" collection in Munich can now be viewed digitally (link to the collection – see the article at this link). A small step for the ethnological "Museum Fünf Kontinente" in Munich and a giant leap for international provenance research worldwide.
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