Katharina Horn becomes new Commercial Director of the German Maritime Museum

Katharina Horn will start as the new Commercial Director at the German Maritime Museum / Leibniz Institute for Maritime History on September 1, 2021. In the future, the 37-year-old will bring her expertise in the field of science management and organizational development to the museum's operations.

Horn previously worked, among other things, as an officer and deputy administrative director at the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) e.V. in Müncheberg near Berlin. There, she coordinated development and budget planning, committee work as well as a multi-year and organization-wide restructuring of the administrative side. The biology graduate brings further experience from research operations and the administration and organization of scientific institutions from the German Rheumatism Research Center Berlin, where she modernized third-party funding management as the focus of her work as Administrative Coordinator.

"I draw my knowledge, skills and network for my future work at the German Maritime Museum as an institution of the Leibniz Association from my many years of experience in the scientific community, both from times of my academic training in the field of biology and in the field of economics, as well as from my professional experience in Leibniz research institutions. At the German Maritime Museum, on the other hand, museum operations are new to me," says Katharina Horn. "I am therefore looking forward to the exciting task of making the German Maritime Museum administratively future-proof as an institution at the interface of science and culture and shaping the further development of the German Maritime Museum together with Prof. Dr. Sunhild Kleingärtner, with the dedicated staff and with strong external partners."

As Commercial Director at the German Maritime Museum, Horn succeeds Konrad Otten, who retired at the end of 2020. After his retirement, Erika Taulien-Matthies had taken over the commercial management on an interim basis. Before her retirement, she was Commercial Director at the Bremen Institute for Applied Beam Technology and supported German Maritime Museum on a transitional basis with her organizational and business expertise.

Katharina Horn now takes on a responsible position in a house that is one of eight research museums of the Leibniz Association and is in the midst of a dynamic process of transformation. In the coming years, the further renovation of the listed buildings, the redesign of the permanent exhibition and a structural reform are on the agenda. This will involve further enhancing the German Maritime Museum status as a federal-state funded research museum while ensuring the maintenance of the ships and maritime outdoor objects in the museum harbor.     

Horn's responsibilities at the German Maritime Museum include managing the annual budget, coordinating committee work, human resources with approximately 100 employees and trainees. Responsibility for the infrastructure of the properties also falls under her purview.

"I am delighted that this central position can now be filled by a competent and experienced commercial manager," says Dr. Claudia Schilling, Senator for Science and Ports of the State of Bremen and Chair of the German Maritime Museum Foundation Board. Prof. Dr. Sunhild Kleingärtner, Executive Director of the German Maritime Museum, is also looking forward to the cooperation: "Katharina Horn brings commercial and business knowledge, she knows how to manage change processes and she already has experience in managing staff at another Leibniz institution. As the new commercial director, she will play a key role in shaping the future course of the German Maritime Museum, accompany the museum on its way to becoming a place of knowledge for all generations, and continue to network research internationally through smart funding management."