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TYPO3 Powers Seamless Content Management for Deutsches Museum Munich’s Digital Exhibits

XIMA Implements Advanced TYPO3 CMS for Streamlined Content Management in Museum Exhibits

Headquarter
Germany
Employees
501-1000
Technology Focus
Media Centre, Media portal
Project Focus
Information, Content Management, Education
TYPO3 since
2021

The Deutsches Museum Munich (DMM) in Southern Germany is one of the world’s largest science and technology museums. With 66,000 square meters of exhibition space, it’s considered a key player in the global dialogue between science and society, receiving almost 1.5 million visitors in 2023 alone. 

Amidst a major renovation running through to 2028, DMM aims to modernize its digital services across 19 exhibitions. To achieve this goal, the company recognized the need for a versatile and scalable digital platform. DMM put out a Europe-wide tender, and stipulated TYPO3 as the required solution due to the open-source CMS’s flexibility and extensibility. Dresden-based digital agency XIMA was awarded the contract to implement the project.

With features like a customizable backend, headless CMS capabilities, and automated deployment workflows, TYPO3 enabled XIMA to craft a tailored solution for DMM. The new TYPO3-powered system allows curators to save significant time and effort by easily updating content on media stations without technical support.

Key Outcomes

Centralized Content Management

Easily manage all exhibit content in one centralized platform.

Significant Effort Savings

Update exhibit content without needing technical support.

Flexible, Scalable Architecture

Provides a stable, scalable platform for digital exhibit management.

Enhanced Visitor Experience

Interactive, media-rich exhibits improve visitor engagement and experience.

Future-Proof Foundation

Strong foundation for ongoing digital innovation and enhancement.

Cost and Workflow Efficiency

Streamlined workflows and reduced reliance on external support save costs.

Streamlined Content Management for Media-Rich Exhibits

XIMA leveraged TYPO3’s powerful content management capabilities to centralize all of DMM’s digital exhibit content, including texts, images, graphics, videos, audio files, 360° recordings, interactive games, and multimedia.

Using TYPO3’s intuitive backend, museum staff can now easily create, edit and publish content for approximately 260 media stations across various exhibitions. These stations include interactive touchscreen information and video kiosks, audio guide stations, multimedia game stations, motion-activated acoustic installations, tactile orientation systems, and large-scale projections.

Editors can structure content using TYPO3’s flexible page tree, with each media station having its own page and URL. They can maintain relevant metadata like exhibition area and station type in page properties. A custom TYPO3 extension manages the delivery of content from the CMS to media stations.

Robust Architecture for Seamless Deployment and Updates

To ensure a stable and future-proof platform, XIMA designed a robust architecture using TYPO3 version 10.4 LTS. The setup includes a preview environment to test changes before pushing to production, automated deployments through GitLab CI workflows, asynchronous content updates to media stations, and offline content availability at stations.

This setup allows the museum’s IT staff to easily initialize and deploy new media stations, with content served through TYPO3’s REST API. The architecture ensures maximum uptime and seamless content updates for an uninterrupted visitor experience.

With TYPO3, we now have the ability to manage the content of our media stations and play it out without direct access to the stations in the museum. TYPO3 enabled us to customize the system to our needs, from design to functionality. It has proven to be extremely user-friendly – our teams can easily update content and create new media stations without having to rely on technical support.

Sebastian Stehle, Head of Electronic Media at Deutsches Museum München

Future-Proofing An Effective and Modern Digital Platform

XIMA’s TYPO3 solution has empowered DMM to efficiently manage and deliver content to its diverse array of media stations. By centralizing content management through TYPO3, DMM has significantly streamlined its workflows and reduced reliance on external support. This has resulted in substantial time and cost savings for the museum.

Looking ahead, the scalable TYPO3 architecture sets a strong foundation for DMM’s ongoing renovation. The museum plans to enhance the visitor experience further by rolling out new features like personalized content, wayfinding, and more. With TYPO3’s flexibility and XIMA’s expertise, DMM is well-positioned to continue innovating its digital offerings.

TYPO3’s extensive capabilities and vibrant community make it a top choice for complex, large-scale projects like DMM’s multi-phase renovation. Coupled with an experienced partner like XIMA, TYPO3 can be adapted to tackle unique challenges while providing a user-friendly interface for non-technical content managers.

Gallery & Features

View of the exhibition building on Munich's Museum Island.
The Deutsches Museum in Munich is one of the largest science and technology museums in the world. (View of the exhibition building on Munich's Museum Island. © Deutsches Museum, München | Reinhard Krause Deutsches Museum)
audio station "Children's stories" with two one-handed earphones
An audio station in the Agriculture exhibition at the Deutsches Museum
The special station consists of 3 audio columns, a control monitor and a large video wall.
The special station in the Water and Bridge Construction exhibition is a combination of audio columns and control monitor, where various videos can be selected, which are then also played on the large monitor.
Visitors look at the exhibits and media stations in the Chemistry exhibition.
The media stations, like here in the Chemistry exhibition, are integrated into the respective themes of the exhibitions. (Visitors look at the exhibits and media stations in the Chemistry exhibition. © Deutsches Museum, München | Reinhard Krause Deutsches Museum)
The video station shown is located in a Lufthansa cargo container.
A video station in a Lufthansa cargo container
View of a tactile orientation station in the modern aviation exhibition, with aeroplanes as exhibits in the background.
One of two tactile orientation stations in modern aviation.
The media stations invite visitors of all ages to learn more about the fascinating secrets of the earth.