The first step in creating this Internet presence was taken on 4 December 2014, when the Virtual State Museum of Mecklenburg went live. This was the culmination of a long-standing wish expressed by many people, at least in a digital form – the desire for a physical museum for the state of Mecklenburg sadly remains unfulfilled.
The Museumsverband in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern made a first attempt to create a virtual surrogate by establishing a ‘Decentralised State Museum’, which from 2008 used computer terminals to inform visitors about the history of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Building on this, Stiftung Mecklenburg and the Museumsverband in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern launched an Internet project in 2011 that was designed to encompass all parts of Mecklenburg’s historical territory. So far, 30 museums have been inspired to cooperate. Around 20 museums from Western Pomerania added their exhibits in May 2018. Since then, the Virtual State Museum has covered the entire federal state.
The landesmuseum-mv.de domain is a user-friendly Internet portal containing carefully selected objects of particular fascination or importance. These individually themed exhibits weave the important stages of the region’s development into a coherent whole. The history of Mecklenburg, (Western) Pomerania and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is presented here within a particularly attractive and interactive framework. Ultimately, the aim is to entice people to visit the originals displayed in the local museums. Users can embark on their own personal trip through time, learning more about particular topics or find out the contact details of contributing museums.
The horizon of the Virtual State Museum extends from prehistoric and early history to the present day. Outstanding and exquisitely beautiful exhibits have been contributed by the participating museums that highlight relevant areas of the region’s history.
State-of-the-art equipment was used to take 360° photographic collages of these exhibits, which were then woven into a tapestry depicting the regional history. The purpose was to preserve the cultural legacy, confirm their significance to cultural history, make them available for science and research and to increase the region’s attractiveness to tourists.
Dr Wolf Karge, Schwerin, and Dr Florian Ostrop, Stiftung Mecklenburg, were in charge of content management for the project. The layout was developed by Anja Finkous at fachwerkler in Schwerin. Gerald Freyer, Cologne, created the photographs for the 360° views. Technical implementation was entrusted to the Schwerin firm Planet IC, and the dedicated commitment of Mathias Richter should be emphasised in particular.
The Virtual State Museum of Mecklenburg receives generous support from the Ministry for Education, Science and Culture in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Authors of the exhibit texts:
K.A. – Dr. Katrin Arietta (Kunstmuseum Ahrenshoop)
A.A. – Axel Attula (Deutsches Bernsteinmuseum Ribnitz-Damgarten)
O.B. – Olaf Both (Volkskundemuseum Schönberg)
I.B. – Iris Brüdgam (Museum der Stadt Güstrow)
I.R. – Inga Ragnit (Heimatmuseum Boizenburg)
P.DC. – Dr. Peter Dancker-Carstensen (Schiffbau- und Schifffahrtsmuseum Rostock)
R.E. – Dr. Regina Erbentraut (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – Schloss Güstrow)
St.F. – Dr. Stefan Fassbinder (Pommersches Landesmuseum Greifswald)
AM.F. – Antje-Marthe Fischer (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
B.F. – Dr. Birte Frenssen (Pommersches Landesmuseum Greifswald)
T.F. – Dr. Torsten Fried (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
S. F. Dr. Sabine Fukarek (Heimatmuseum Grimmen)
H.G. – Henry Gawlick (Museum der Stadt Hagenow)
G.G. – Dr. Gerhard Graulich (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
A.G. – Dr. Andreas Grüger (Stralsund Museum)
K.H. – Dr. Kristina Hegner (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
A.H. – Agnes Heine (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – Jagdschloss Granitz)
C.H. – Claudia Hoffmann (Stralsund Museum)
F.H. – Falko Hohensee (Kreisagrarmuseum Dorf Mecklenburg)
A.H. – Anke Holstein (Museum der Stadt Pasewalk)
W.H. – Dr. Wilfried Hornburg (Museum im Steintor Anklam)
A.Hü. – Antje Hückstädt (Darß-Museum Prerow)
W.K. – Wolfgang Kaehlke (Museum der Stadt Parchim)
W.Ka. – Dr. Wolf Karge (Schwerin)
S.Ka. – Stephan Kasimirschak (Landschulmuseum Göldenitz)
D.K. – Dorina Kasten (Stralsund Museum)
S.Kn. – Sylvia Knöpfel (Spielkartenfabrik Stralsund)
F.K. – Franka Keil (Museum Atelier Otto Niemeyer-Holstein)
S.K. – Dr. Stefan Knüppel (Hans-Fallada-Museum Carwitz)
T.K. – Thomas Köhler (Historisch-Technisches Museum Peenemünde)
G.K. – Gesine Kröhnert (Volkskundemuseum Schwerin-Mueß)
J.L. – Jana Leistner (Heimatmuseum Hiddensee)
B.L. – Dr. Bernd Lukasch (Otto-Lilienthal-Museum Anklam)
K.M. – Knut Matzat (Schwerin)
E.M. – Ellen Melzer (Mönchguter Museen)
KA.M. – Dr. Karin Annette Möller (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
R.N. – Dr. Regina Nehmzow (Stralsund Museum)
C.N. – Dr. Cornelia Nenz (Fritz-Reuter-Literaturmuseum Stavenhagen)
B.P. – Bettina Pfaff (Pommersches Landesmuseum Greifswald)
J.P – Johannes Pilgrim (Norddeutsches Bibelzentrum Barth)
F.P. – Franziska Ploetz (Gerhart-Hauptmann-Haus Hiddensee)
H.T.P – Dr. Haik-Thomas Porada (Leipzig)
V.P. – Dr. Volker Probst (Ernst-Barlach-Stiftung Güstrow)
A.P. – Albrecht Pyritz (Museum der Stadt Neustrelitz)
A.Q. – Andrej Quade (Phantechnikum Technisches Landesmuseum Wismar)
M.R. – Mathias Rautenberg (Schwerin)
C.RC. – Christine Rehberg-Credé (Schwerin)
S.R. – Silvana Rieck (Bädermuseum Möckelhaus Bad Doberan)
K.R. – Dr. Kornelia Röder (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
B.R. – Barbara Roggow (Museum Wolgast)
A.R. – Prof. Dr. Andrea Rudolph (Alte Burg Penzlin)
F.S. – Frank Sass (Museum Burg Stargard)
J.S. – Jürgen Scharnweber (Museum Festung Dömitz)
H.S. – Dr. Heiko Schäfer (Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege)
J.P.S. – Dr. Jens-Peter Schmidt (Landesamt für Kultur und Denkmalpflege)
S.S. – Simone Schulz (Museum der Hansestadt Wismar)
G.S. – Dr. Gero Seelig (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
R.S. – Renate Seemann (Müritzeum Waren)
R.St. – Roland Stapel (Mühlenmuseum Woldegk)
Se.St. – Dr. Sebastian Stumpf (Wien)
S.St. – Dr. Steffen Stuth (Kulturhistorisches Museum Rostock)
A.W. – Dr. Andreas Wagner (Grenzhus Schlagsdorf)
R.V. – Dr. Rolf Voß (Regionalmuseum Neubrandenburg)
H.W. – Heiko Wartenberg (Pommersches Landesmuseum Greifswald)
R.We. – Ralf Weingart (Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten und Kunstsammlungen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – Schloss Schwerin)
R.W. – Dr. Reinhard Witte (Heinrich-Schliemann-Museum Ankershagen)