# 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.

Quelle/Source: https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-museum-gallery.php  
Updated: 2026-09-18

## 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.

## At a glance

- **Compulsory:** No insurance is required by law; loan agreements, however, almost always require nail to nail cover
- **Biggest risk:** Damage to or loss of artworks and loans during transport, installation and display
- **Basic cover from:** about 300 to 400 euros a year for all risks cover for a small gallery with a sum insured of 50,000 euros
- **Statutory accident insurer:** VBG for privately run museums and zoos, BGHW for the art trade (both are Berufsgenossenschaften, statutory accident insurers); council run institutions are with the Unfallkasse, the public sector accident insurer
- **Often forgotten:** Loss of value after restoration: a repaired tear lowers the market value, and this has to be included separately
- **WZ 2025 / NACE:** 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

## What goes wrong in this trade

- **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.
- **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.
- **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.
- **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.
- **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.
- **Closed doors:** After water damage an exhibition stays shut for weeks. Admissions, shop and café income disappear, while wages and loan fees keep running.

**Risk radar** (Compared with other trades, 1 low to 5 high.): Liability 3, Fire and water 5, Theft 4, Cyber 2, Downtime 3, Health 2

## The insurance you need

- **Business liability** (Essential): Covers injuries to visitors and damage to other people's property, and at a zoo your liability as keeper of all the animals. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-liability.php
- **Business contents** (Essential): As fine art and exhibition insurance it protects your own collection and loans nail to nail against all risks. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-contents.php
- **Cargo insurance** (Strongly advised): For art transports to borrowers, fairs and restorers, if these are not already part of the exhibition policy. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-cargo-insurance.php
- **Commercial buildings** (Strongly advised): For your own exhibition buildings, stores and enclosures against fire, storm and escaping water. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-commercial-buildings.php
- **Business interruption** (Strongly advised): Replaces admissions, shop turnover and running costs if the building has to close after physical damage. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-business-interruption.php
- **Electronic equipment** (Depends on the business): For alarm systems, climate control, media stations and tills, whose failure can put the collection at risk. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-electronic-equipment.php
- **D&O insurance** (Depends on the business): For the board or management of a supporting association or foundation that decides on grants and loan agreements. https://www.nammert.com/en/insurance-broker-directors-and-officers.php

## 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._

- [transparent-beraten.de: fine art insurance for museums](https://www.transparent-beraten.de/kunstversicherung/museen/)
- [transparent-beraten.de: public liability insurance](https://www.transparent-beraten.de/betriebshaftpflichtversicherung/)

## Our suggestions: three packages

- **Gallery** (gallery or art dealer with changing works): Business contents, Business liability. Together: about 500 to 1,000 euros a year
- **Museum** (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
- **Animal park** (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

## The 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.

- 08:15: 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)
- 10:40: A visitor trips over a poorly marked plinth and breaks an ankle. (€9,500, Paid by: Business liability)
- 12:30: 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)
- 14:50: The air conditioning in the prints and drawings room fails; the controls are broken after a power surge. (€7,200, Paid by: Electronic equipment)
- 17:20: 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)
- 22:05: Burglars lift a display case on the ground floor and take pieces of silverware. (€35,000, Paid by: Business contents)

**Damage so far:** €97,700

## 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.

## FAQ

### 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.

## Request quotes

We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison. Free of charge and without obligation: the insurer pays our commission. You can write in English. https://www.nammert.com/en/business-insurance-museum-gallery.php#anfrage

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NAMMERT 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.

NAMMERT Assekuradeur GmbH, Karl-Marx-Straße 4, 15711 Königs Wusterhausen, +49 3375 29 12 77, info@nammert.com. Wikidata: Q141141479.