Collection Strategy of the Linden Museum Stuttgart

The Linden Museum has been preserving and acquiring everyday objects, ritual objects, and art objects since 1884. From this historical perspective, the collections focus on non-European contexts.

Today, the expansion of the collection increasingly takes place in partnership with stakeholders from the communities of origin and the urban society. New forms of acquisition include, in particular, joint research and decisions on additions to the collection.

The objects acquired are formally and aesthetically meaningful and significant for the cultural identity, which show a continuation of traditions or modern artistic confrontations and can be assigned to specific focal points of the respective collections. The conservation condition of the objects is to be taken into account.

The scientific documentation of acquisition contexts is to be taken into account. If possible, objects, recordings, photographs, films, documents, or books that shed light on the context of the acquired objects should also be collected.

In the case of acquisitions, as well as donations and gifts, the provenance of the objects should be considered. Only objects that are deemed ethically sound according to the 1972 UNESCO Convention and the ICOM guidelines can be included in the collections. Donations must be accompanied by a transfer form including object biography information.

All acquisitions will be digitally added to the collection in a timely manner with their respective contexts and presented transparently to the public.

The Linden Museum is aware of its great responsibility towards the collections. It preserves them on behalf of the state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Stuttgart.