Business liability
Covers injuries to visitors and damage to other people's property, and at a zoo your liability as keeper of all the animals.
Insurance broker / Business types / Sport, culture and leisure
Insurance for museums, galleries, exhibitions and zoos in Germany
A museum insures things that cannot be bought again, and the people who walk around among them. Lenders demand nail to nail cover, visitors trip over plinths, and at the zoo there is an animal that does not follow the house rules. This page shows how each of these is insured and roughly what it costs.
The question almost everyone asks first
Is ordinary contents insurance enough for artworks?
No. Contents insurance only covers named perils such as fire, water and burglary, and pays the replacement value, which does not exist for a unique piece. Art belongs in fine art or exhibition insurance: all risks cover, agreed values for each object, transport and installation included and, if you want it, loss of value after restoration.
What goes wrong in this trade
- 01
Transport and installation
Most damage to art does not happen in the gallery room but during packing, loading and hanging. One knock against the frame is enough.
- 02
Water and climate
A burst pipe in the store, a failed air conditioning unit, mould after a damp summer: paper, wood and textiles react quickly.
- 03
Targeted theft
Small, valuable objects from display cases and jewellery rooms are sought after. Burglaries at museums are rare, but when they happen they are expensive.
- 04
Visitors and children
A hand on the sculpture, a rucksack against the display case, a fall on the stairs to the upper floor: liability runs in both directions.
- 05
Animals at the zoo
An animal escapes, a child reaches through the fence, a pony kicks in the petting zoo: this is where keeper's liability applies, even without any fault on your part.
- 06
Closed doors
After water damage an exhibition stays shut for weeks. Admissions, shop and café income disappear, while wages and loan fees keep running.
Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.
The insurance you need
Essential
Business contents
As fine art and exhibition insurance it protects your own collection and loans nail to nail against all risks.
Strongly advised
Cargo insurance
For art transports to borrowers, fairs and restorers, if these are not already part of the exhibition policy.
Commercial buildings
For your own exhibition buildings, stores and enclosures against fire, storm and escaping water.
Business interruption
Replaces admissions, shop turnover and running costs if the building has to close after physical damage.
Depends on the business
Electronic equipment
For alarm systems, climate control, media stations and tills, whose failure can put the collection at risk.
D&O insurance
For the board or management of a supporting association or foundation that decides on grants and loan agreements.
What it costs: example prices
There are hardly any list prices in fine art insurance. The premium depends on the agreed value of the works, security, transport routes and how fragile the works are. Many insurers charge a minimum premium for individual exhibitions.
| Insurance | Example | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Business contents | Gallery with all risks cover, sum insured 50,000 euros | about 300 to 400 euros a year |
| Business contents | Single exhibition with loans, nail to nail | minimum premium usually from about 250 euros per exhibition, several thousand euros for works worth millions |
| Business liability | Small museum or gallery with up to 20,000 visitors | about 200 to 600 euros a year |
| Business liability | Wildlife park or animal park with a petting zoo | about 800 to 2,500 euros a year |
| Business interruption | Museum with shop and café, annual turnover 200,000 euros | about 250 to 600 euros a year |
For comparison: Fine art insurance for a small gallery costs about as much a year as a good frame for one single large painting.
Guide figures excluding insurance tax, as of September 2026. The gallery figures come from published examples; the others are guide figures from our own quoting experience. Art is always rated individually from the object list.
Sources of the price examples
Our suggestions: three packages
01
Gallery
For: gallery or art dealer with changing works
- Business contents
- Business liability
Together about 500 to 1,000 euros a year
Request this package02
Museum
For: museum or exhibition venue with its own collection and loans
- Business contents
- Business liability
- Cargo insurance
- Business interruption
- Electronic equipment
Together from about 2,500 euros a year, depending on the value of the collection
Request this package03
Animal park
For: zoo, animal park or wildlife park with catering
- Business liability
- Commercial buildings
- Business interruption
- Business contents
- D&O insurance
Together from about 4,000 euros a year, rated individually
Request this packageThe worst day at the museum
Six things that really happen at museums, galleries and animal parks, all on a single Sunday. Tap through the day and see who pays.
Damage so far€97,700
-
While being rehung, a loaned painting slips out of its fixing. The frame breaks, the canvas is torn, and the lender demands restoration and compensation for loss of value.
-
A visitor trips over a poorly marked plinth and breaks an ankle.
-
At the animal park a pony in the petting zoo kicks a child. Doctor, compensation for pain and suffering, the mother's loss of earnings.
-
The air conditioning in the prints and drawings room fails; the controls are broken after a power surge.
-
A burst pipe above the store soaks boxes of archive material, and the building stays closed for two weeks.
-
Burglars lift a display case on the ground floor and take pieces of silverware.
Which package would you have had?
Illustrative amounts before any excess. Whether and how much is paid depends on the policy terms.
Practical tips from your broker
- Agree a fixed value for every work, so that there is no argument about market value after a loss.
- Check whether loss of value after restoration and damage from climate and light are included.
- Have transports, fairs and loans to other institutions expressly included, with a nail to nail clause.
- At a zoo, name every species in the policy, especially dangerous animals and petting zoos.
- Settle the insurer's security requirements before you sign: display cases, alarms, supervision. Otherwise a breach can cost you your cover.
- Keep loan agreements and condition reports with photos in digital form, because they are the basis of every claim settlement.
Why NAMMERT for your business
We think in agreed values
A yacht, too, often has an agreed value rather than a market value. We know how to set values so that they hold up after a loss.
We know claims from the inside
In boat insurance we handle claims ourselves, including assessors and restoration. That helps when loss of value is being negotiated after damage to a work of art.
Several insurers in view
Art, liability and buildings often come from different insurers. As a broker we obtain the right quotes and make sure they fit together.
A family business since 1989
For supporting associations and foundations, reliability matters. You have fixed contacts, and our work costs you no fee.
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
What does nail to nail mean?
The work is insured from being taken down at the lender's, through packing, transport, installation and display, until it is back on the same nail. Almost all lenders require this.
Does a museum have to insure loans?
Not by law, but the loan agreement almost always requires it. For public institutions a state indemnity sometimes takes the place of insurance.
Who is liable if an animal at the zoo injures a visitor?
The keeper of the animal, meaning the zoo, often even without any fault of its own. Public liability cover must therefore expressly include keeper's liability for all animals.
Are artworks in a gallery insured against theft?
Under fine art insurance, yes, as long as the agreed security measures are followed. Ordinary contents insurance often only pays for art up to low limits.
What does exhibition insurance cost?
For a small gallery with a sum insured of 50,000 euros, about 300 to 400 euros a year. Single exhibitions with loans often have minimum premiums from about 250 euros.
Does insurance pay if a visitor damages a work?
Your fine art insurance pays for the damage to the work and can recover the money from the person who caused it. What matters for you is that the work is restored quickly.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Museum
The recommended covers are already ticked. Change what does not fit; we obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. You can write in English.
Thank you, we have your request.
We will be in touch within one working day. If it is urgent: +49 3375 29 12 77.
Related trades
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Official classification
This page covers the following classes of the German WZ 2025 (identical to NACE at four digits):
- 91.11 Bibliotheken
- 91.12 Archive
- 91.21 Museen und Sammlungen
- 91.22 Historische Stätten und Denkmäler
- 91.30 Konservierung, Restaurierung und sonstige unterstützende Tätigkeiten für das kulturelle Erbe
- 91.41 Botanische und zoologische Gärten
- 91.42 Naturparks
Source: Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), WZ 2025. All business types
Boat or yacht? Here we are not the broker but the underwriting agency, with our own policies and our own claims handling.
Boat insuranceNAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, insurance broker licensed under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act, broker register no. D-C08Q-TOSD4-37. For boat and yacht insurance we act as underwriting agency, not as broker. Statutory disclosure (German) · Updated