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.
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.
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.
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.
€18,000 · Paid by: Business contents
A visitor trips over a poorly marked plinth and breaks an ankle.
€9,500 · Paid by: Business liability
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.
€6,000 · Paid by: Business liability
The air conditioning in the prints and drawings room fails; the controls are broken after a power surge.
€7,200 · Paid by: Electronic equipment
A burst pipe above the store soaks boxes of archive material, and the building stays closed for two weeks.
€22,000 · Paid by: Business interruption
Burglars lift a display case on the ground floor and take pieces of silverware.
€35,000 · Paid by: Business contents
Which package would you have had?
Paid by insurance: €0
Out of your own pocket: €97,700
Illustrative amounts before any excess.
What 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.
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
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.
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