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overview of German history in its European context and its internal variety – in amanner neither overbearing nor self-accusatory but rather sober, self-critical and selfaware.The museum should enrich the store of knowledge and experience of its visitorsthrough its own means, stimulate their historical imagination and facilitate theirindependent judgments. In addition to this, it should entertain…” (1).These founding statements then served as a basis to develop ideas about thepresentation of conceptions of history and about the dimensions of history – Germanhistory in its international context is the new approach – as well as to pose lines ofhistorical questioning such as the formation of state and of sovereignty, formativeinstitutions, the struggles for freedom and emancipation, oppression, war, the relationof humanity and nature, questions about the forms of social justice, questions aboutcultural and religious interpretations, and conflicts within history.Since the museum was founded without a collection, the conception called for the rapidorganization of one by acquiring relics of German history. What is interesting from amuseological perspective is that the collection process aimed at making the historicalsituations and interrelations clear and communicable, so that objects were collectedprimarily not according to type and genre but rather for their value in evidencing andexplaining historical statements. The objective of the collection became the rich varietyof historical material in its great breadth, with which historical topics could then beprepared: high art as well as cultural objects of everyday use are presented in directcontiguity whenever required by the topic.Following the acceptance of this conception for the German Historical Museum after anation-wide process of discussion from the years 1985 to 1987 in the form of publichearings and statements from societal groups, it has served as the foundation of themuseum since its inception.2. New national historical and cultural museums and reflexive modernizationThe German Historical Museum in Berlin is not a singular event in the development ofhistory museums in the 80s; rather – if one draws a worldwide comparison – it is a partof a wave of national historical and cultural museums founded in several highlyindustrialized states and post-industrial societies whose conceptions all differfundamentally from those of the national museums of the 19 th century.As diverse as the mandates of these new national museums might be in the particularcountries, they share great commonalities.With original historical materials they explicate history and culture in a strongerpolitical-historical sense than ever before, highlight historical structures andcharacteristics, show the heights and depths of history and in doing so elucidate thepolitical, social and economic developments from various perspectives. They offervisitors a site to come to terms with history, form their own opinions and thus becomemore assured of themselves. Cultural and historical learning is thus meant to contributeto the stabilization of identity and put people in a position to better understand thepresent on a basis of historical knowledge. This is also a precondition to being able tomore sustainably shape the geographical surroundings as well as the future.In each of the countries that saw the foundation of new national historical and culturalmuseums in the past few decades, there is a singular, specific societal context for thatcultural and political action. And yet the wave of these new museums can also be seencomparatively and explained as an international phenomenon.In the Germany of the 80s it was above all the internationalization of everyday lifethrough the expansion of the European Union, the shift in the loci of decision-makingoutside national borders, the yet unclarified German question, and the increased influx17