Sunhild Kleingärtner is Executive Director of the German Maritime Museum/Leibniz Institute of Maritime History (DSM) and Professor of Maritime History and Maritime Archaeology at the University of Bremen. She studied Prehistory and Early History, Classical Archaeology and Art History at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, is a certified research diver, has led various excavations and surveys above and under water, and is involved in various museum and cultural policy committees. Since 2013, her task has been to conceptually realign the DSM as a research museum of the Leibniz Association under the motto "Man & the Sea".

Publications (Selection)

2020 | In Zeiten des Wandels auf Kurs zwischen Geschichte und Zukunft: Das Deutsche Schifffahrtsmuseum – Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte (DSM). In: Flandziu. Halbjahresblätter für Literatur der Moderne 12,1/2, S. 101–119.  

2018 | A Short History of the Use of Seas and Oceans, in: Salomon, Markus und Markus, Till (Hrsg.): Handbook on Marine Environment Protection, Cham, S. 519–531.

2017 | Die Wikinger und ihre Schiffe. Darmstadt.

2014 | Die frühe Phase der Urbanisierung an der südlichen Ostseeküste im ersten nachchristlichen Jahrhundert. (= Studien zur Archäologie des Ostseeraumes 13). Neumünster.

2013 | Kleingärtner, Sunhild; Newfield, Timothy; Rossignol, Sébastien und Wehner, Donat (Hrsg.): Landscapes and Societies in Medieval Europe East of the Elbe. Interactions between Environmental Settings and Cultural Transformations. Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto.

2012 | Kleingärtner, Sunhild and Zeilinger, Gabriel (Hrsg.): Raumbildung durch Netzwerke? Der Ostseeraum zwischen Wikingerzeit und Spätmittelalter aus archäologischer und geschichtswissenschaftlicher Perspektive. Contributions of the scientific workshop held in Kiel on October 28-29, 2010. Zeitschr. Arch. Mittelalter Beih. 23, Bonn.

Prizes/Awards (Selection)

2010 | DAAD journey to Stockholm, Statens Historiska Museums
2010 | ERASMUS-lecturer mobility University of Rzeszow

Project Description

TiM: Trust in Museums!
A resilient society thrives on trust in its institutions. In the USA and in Germany, extracurricular education plays an important role. Public trust in museums is high. But what is the basis for it - in numbers, contexts or affiliation?
The project "ViM!" asks about the trust in the institution museum and how it can and should succeed on a scientific basis and by means of participation to make an active contribution to a resilient society. On the basis of interviews and dialogues with representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations and museums, Sunhild Kleingärtner wants to determine which similarities and differences exist in the USA and in Germany. The goal is to learn in a transatlantic dialogue how societal trust in the institution of the museum can be strengthened for the future and thus also its role for a resilient society.