Elsa Goes to the Museum is a series of events in which doctoral fellows from the Elsa Neumann Program lead tours through Berlin museums and provide insights into their research. The tours connect current doctoral projects with the collections, exhibitions, and working methods of the respective institutions. This gives you the chance to take a look behind the scenes at established cultural institutions, learn more about the work of archaeologists, curators, and other experts, and meet other (young) scholars and culture enthusiasts in a relaxed atmosphere. No prior knowledge is required.

Dates:

September 24th (Thu), 2026, 4:00-5:30pm: A Political History of Berlin's Museum Island

The complex of buildings and the associated collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin on Berlin’s Museum Island are now experiencing their fifth form of governance. Each of these political and social systems has taken a different approach to the cultural heritage preserved there. Using examples from architecture, the repair of war damage, changing exhibition practices, and the varying approaches of different cultural policies, archaeologist, historian and former Elsa Neumann scholar Christopher Hölzel will discuss the differences and similarities in the role of museums across different societies.

Meeting place: In front of the Altes Museum
Registration: nafoeg-stipendium@drs.fu-berlin.de

October 7th (Wed), 2026, 4:00pm-5:00pm: A Tour of the Global Cultural Assembly Room at Humboldt Forum by Anna Sara Dias Portugal Guimarães

The Humboldt Forum has often been, and continues to be, at the center of public debates about colonial legacies in the museum context. To address this issue, the Global Cultural Embassy was convened. The Global Cultural Embassy (GCE) is a collective of artists, scholars, curators, activists, and community representatives who work with the Ethnological Museum, the Museum for Asian Art, and the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. The GCE responds to the responsibilities tied to cultural belongings and heritage that connect histories and regions, advancing a new framework for global collaboration on museums. Anna Sara Dias, Elsa Neumann scholar and doctoral candidate at Freie Universität Berlin, will lead a tour of the Global Cultural Assembly Room at the Humboldt Forum, followed by a conversation about its foundation, which she researched and continues to work on. After the tour, you will have the opportunity to visit other exhibits in the building.

https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/global-cultural-embassy/

Meeting place: In front of the ticket office
Entry: free
Duration: 1h
Registration: nafoeg-stipendium@drs.fu-berlin.de

November 18th (Wed), 2026, 2:30-3:30pm: A Tour of the Archaeology Lab PETRI Berlin by Anna Bahcivanoglu

Past events:

August 20th (Thu), 2026, 2:30-4:30pm: Past Made Present: Archaeology, Education and Medieval History at Museumsdorf Düppel

The Düppel Museum Village in southern Berlin is part of the Berlin City Museum Foundation and has been dedicated for over 50 years to bringing the lives of medieval people in the region to life. During the approximately two-hour guided tour, Elsa Neumann scholar and archaeologist Konrad von Fournier will tell us about the various facets of museum work and its educational outreach. During the tour, participants will visit different areas of the village where the work of an experimental archaeological open-air museum is presented and, in some cases, can be experienced firsthand. In addition to providing insights into the town’s history and archaeology, the tour also addresses issues related to museum education, research, and the day-to-day work at a living museum site.