Museum building: Migration museum in Germany seeks architecture

The nationwide migration museum is taking another step forward: the Europe-wide tender for architecture, building construction and exhibition design starts today. In the coming months, it will be decided what the future museum, which will be built in the largest of the "Hallen Kalk" in Cologne on the right bank of the Rhine, will look like.

DOMiD, as the organiser of the future museum, is taking a special approach here: "The architecture and engineering firms must join forces with the exhibition designers to form a planning team and submit a joint design. In this way, we can ensure that the complex museum planning goes hand in hand across all trades," explains Yordanos Asghedom, project manager for museum construction at DOMiD.

"What was just a vision a few years ago is now taking shape," says DOMiD Managing Director Dr. Robert Fuchs, delighted with the start of the tendering process, for which designs can be submitted from now on. DOMiD is planning to announce the winning design publicly at the beginning of 2025.

Based on the unique DOMiD collection, a museum is being created on a derelict industrial site in the Kalk district of Cologne that tells the story of the past and present of the migration society. On almost 10,000 square metres, an open centre for dialogue and productive debate on migration and the immigration society is to be created here.

The Europe-wide tender is another major step on the way to realising the museum. The first excavators are expected to roll in from 2027/2028. The opening of the museum is planned for 2029, subject to external factors. The construction of the migration museum is being financed in equal parts by the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, while the land and the building are being provided by the city of Cologne. DOMiD is currently in final, constructive talks with the city about the long-term leasehold contract, which the city council gave the green light to in March.