Fact: Free or not at state museums in Europe
Estonia: Free for children up to 8 years old, for everyone on May 18.
France: Free for all on the first Sunday of every month. Always free entry to gatherings for young people aged 18 to 25.
Finland: In some museums free entry for people under 18 years of age.
Greece: Free entry on certain days and weekends.
Ireland: Free entry except for certain temporary exhibitions.
Italy: Free on the first Sunday of the month and for everyone under 18.
Iceland: Free for children only.
Slovenia: Free for children under six and for the unemployed, for all four days a year.
United Kingdom: Free entry to collection exhibitions.
Spain: Free for everyone up to 18 or over 65, students unemployed and more.
Germany: Berlin’s state museums are free on the first Sunday of every month.
Latvia: Free entry for everyone only at the Latvian War Museum.
Czech Republic: Free on International Museum Day, May 18.
Austria: For children and young people up to 18 years of age.
Source: Network of European Museums, Nemo
At the turn of the year, the free entrance to the state museums in Sweden was scrapped by the current government, a decision that Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand (M) justified by saying that “the reform has mainly benefited regular museum visitors in the Stockholm region above all, and foreign tourists.” From now on, museum visits are free only for children and young people up to the age of 19 (plus special groups).
It is the second time a bourgeois government has withdrawn the free admission which had its Swedish premiere in 2005 under the auspices of Göran Persson’s (S) government and which included 19 state museums.
So how does it look in the rest of Europe? In comparison with the Nordic countries, the Swedish decision follows the flow. In Denmark, the free entrance to the National Museum and the Statens Museum for Kunst disappeared already in 2016 following an initiative by the museums themselves. They had to save money and needed to increase revenue.
In Norway, free admission to museums has not been a major political issue either, says Liv Ramskjær, secretary general of the Norwegian Museumsforbund. However, unlike the even newer National Museum, the new Munch Museum in Oslo has free admission one night a week.
Big variation
In other countries, there are large variations according to a recent survey from the Network of European Museums, Nemo. The state museums in Berlin and in Italy have free entry on the first Sunday of each month, while the French state museums are free to visit on the first Saturday of each month. Both France and Greece also have free entry, among other things, for the unemployed. The Spanish museums with state funding do indeed charge a fee, but it is no higher than three euros – about SEK 34.
The British Isles, on the other hand, are the epicenter of the free entry reform. Ireland has continued free admission to state museums, according to Nemo’s survey. Likewise Great Britain, which introduced free admission to the state museums’ collective exhibitions in December 2001.
— It was part of Labour’s agenda around inclusion, engagement and an assurance that the national museums’ collections would be open and accessible to all. With it also came government grants that would compensate for the loss of income, says Sharon Heal of the Museums Association, which advocates free admission over fees.
The free admission to British museums doubled attendance figures but did not necessarily lead to the broadening of the audience as intended. Archive image.
Before the pandemic, some of the British museums had record audiences and behind closed doors there are probably museum managers who think that the government compensation is insufficient and would therefore like to charge entrance fees, according to Heal.
— But as long as there is no political will, it will not be brought up.
Deterrent buildings
Record audiences do not necessarily mean that the museum audience has broadened as it was intended, she emphasizes. In 2009, the British Art Fund noted that other barriers remain: such as a lack of knowledge, but also that the pompous museum buildings themselves make people feel underqualified.
After the pandemic, the museums have not yet reached the same high visitor numbers as before, which makes it even less urgent to reintroduce fees, claims Sharon Heal.
In the past, it was the conservatives who argued against the free entrance, but from the current English government, she has not perceived any such criticism at all, she says. When they previously considered removing the free entrance, they were met with broad and strong opposition, she says.
— They have simply abandoned every thought about it. I think the current administration would like to reinstate fees but it would be very exhausting because of the backlash that such a decision could create.
How far would the British go to defend free entry? Sharon Heal laughs. She may not believe in demonstrations but in loud protests from media commentators and art critics.
— And what system would replace it with? To charge fees again, one would have to change an entire structure.
The new National Museum in Oslo is free for children and young people up to 18 years of age. Archive image.