Almost 1,800 federal laws with around 50,000 individual regulations currently govern life in Germany. Welcome to bureaucracy, the reign of administration.
43% of citizens are angry about it. A quarter feel powerless or abandoned. And more and more companies are thinking of moving away. Almost 60% no longer want to invest in Germany.
All this for a very specific reason: too much red tape.
Bureaucracy is now everywhere - and finally where it belongs: in the museum.
The Bureaucracy Museum Berlin has set itself the task of making the phenomenon of bureaucracy visible, perceptible, tangible and, above all, surmountable. From 22 April to 25 June 2024, the exhibition opens its doors (right next to Friedrichstrasse station), which have been tested for fire safety with every trick in the book. Admission is free.
At the entrance, we are greeted by the most famous sculpture in the world, which seems to have been waiting for this moment for ages, its head resting on its hand, long misunderstood as a "thinker": The Faxer by Rodin.
A mighty sequoia as the entrance portal is just big enough to visualise the problem behind it: The jungle of paragraphs through which the visitor - like the whole country every day - has to fight his way.
Those who are not forgotten in the waiting room can learn about the Supply Chain Act, experience an exciting snail's race from application to approval, take a language course in bureaucracy and much more.
Museum director, chief curator and part-time managing director of INSM (Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft), Thorsten Alsleben, explains: "Bureaucracy is frighteningly concrete in everyday life, but unfortunately often abstract in political debate. All politicians are in favour of reducing bureaucracy, but all of them are constantly creating new bureaucracy. We want to make bureaucracy sensual and tangible and talk about it with visitors, hopefully including many politicians. Alsleben points out that bureaucracy is now everywhere. "And now it's finally where it belongs: in the museum.
The Bureaucracy Museum is a project of INSM in collaboration with CAMP, the latest politically engaged subsidiary of the agency group thjnk.
Armin Jochum, Co-Founder and CEO/CCO thjnk: "We have not only put our heart and soul into the Museum of Bureaucracy. It is also the first work of CAMP, our newly founded political unit, which aims to bring people together around ideas in turbulent times, like around the nation's campfire. Quite unbureaucratically, of course".
Throughout the duration of the museum, a number of prominent interlocutors are expected.
On the evening of the opening day, 22 April, there will be a vernissage for invited guests from 5 to 7 pm. Hosted by TV presenter Franca Lehfeldt, former Federal Chancellor and Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) will discuss with entrepreneur and author Tijen Onaran why it is so difficult to avoid and reduce bureaucracy and how it can still be achieved.
The Bureaucracy Museum is being advertised with a campaign in all relevant media.
We are grateful to all those who could not prevent the opening of the museum of bureaucracy.