Northern Sea Maritime Museums Network (NSMMN)

Current Chair

Prof. Dr. Ruth Schilling
Managing Director
The German Maritime Museum – Leibniz Institute for Maritime History (DSM)
Location: Bremerhaven, Germany
Email: schilling@dsm.museum

Prof. Dr. Ruth Schilling is a historian specializing in maritime culture and the history of science. She currently serves as Chair of the NSMMN and is the Managing Director of the German Maritime Museum – Leibniz Institute for Maritime History (DSM). Located in Bremerhaven, Germany, the DSM is one of Europe’s leading institutions for maritime research and public engagement. As a member of the prestigious Leibniz Association, the museum plays a central role in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and advancing scholarly and cultural understanding of maritime history, making it a fitting institutional home for the NSMMN’s leadership.

Mission and Scope

The network promotes scientific exchange between museums and academic institutions focusing on the Northern and Baltic Sea coasts. It explores the role of shipping from both comparative and entangled perspectives. Ships and maritime logistics are viewed as unique media through which the social, economic, cultural, and ecological relationships between humanity and the sea are expressed.

The network encourages research that analyzes the maritime impact on Northern European coasts by framing it within both European and global contexts. It seeks to understand how coastal and maritime cultures have influenced broader societal developments and considers their relevance for future challenges and transformations.

Why NSMMN?

The NSMMN addresses a critical need for transnational cooperation and dialogue between maritime museums and academic researchers across Northern and Baltic Europe. Coastal regions are increasingly shaped by global challenges such as climate change, migration, environmental degradation, and geopolitical shifts. Maritime museums, as custodians of material and cultural heritage, are uniquely positioned to explore these themes from a historical and interdisciplinary perspective.

By linking institutions across national boundaries, the NSMMN builds a collaborative infrastructure for research, education, and public engagement. It strengthens the role of maritime museums not only as exhibition spaces but as knowledge hubs contributing to contemporary debates on the relationship between people, technology, and the sea.

NSMMN Research

The NSMMN promotes cutting-edge research on the maritime history and cultures of the North Sea and Baltic Sea regions. It adopts a comparative and entangled historical approach to questions such as:

• How have ships and maritime infrastructures shaped regional identities?

• In what ways have coastal communities interacted with global trade networks?

• How do maritime environments influence social, economic, and political development?

Research initiatives supported by the network include cross-institutional projects, publication collaborations, and dialogue between the humanities and natural sciences. Special attention is given to understanding the long-term ecological and socio-economic dynamics of maritime landscapes, fostering a deeper historical perspective on present-day challenges.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

A core objective of the NSMMN is to foster multi-disciplinary approaches. It aims to serve as a platform that bridges dialogue between the museum sector and academic institutions, including historians, archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, and natural scientists. The network supports collaborations that address the historical and cultural dimensions of the North Sea and Baltic coasts, drawing on a broad spectrum of academic and professional perspectives.

Conferences and Scientific Exchange

The NSMMN organizes an international conference on a triennial basis. The institution holding the chair is primarily responsible for organizing the event, which is guided and supported by a scientific advisory board comprised of network members. The outcomes of these conferences are intended for publication, potentially in collaboration with the International Journal of Maritime History.

In addition, annual meetings of the network function as vital communication tools. They facilitate dialogue among various types of museums located around the Northern and Baltic coasts and help strengthen a Northern European academic hub connecting museums and universities.

Participating Institutions

The network brings together a diverse group of maritime museums and heritage institutions from across Northern and Baltic Europe. Below is a list of participating institutions:

• Aberdeen Maritime Museum (United Kingdom)

• Brunel Institute (United Kingdom)

• Deutsches Hafenmuseum (Germany)

• Deutsches Marinemuseum (Germany)

• Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum / Leibniz-Institut für Maritime Geschichte (Germany)

• Fiskeri-og Søfartsmuseet (Denmark)

• Føroya Fornminnissavn (Faroese National Museum) (Faroe Islands)

• Göteborgs Stadsmuseum / Museum of Gothenburg Sjöfartsmuseet Akvariet (Sweden)

• Het Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum) (Netherlands)

• Internationales Maritimes Museum (Germany)

• Maritiem Museum (Netherlands)

• Museum aan de Stroom (MAS) (Belgium)

• National Maritime Museum (Denmark) (Denmark)

• National Maritime Museum (United Kingdom) (United Kingdom)

• Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norway)

• Schifffahrtsmuseum Unterweser (Germany)

• Stavanger Maritime Museum (Norway)

• Windstärke 10 – Wrack- und Fischereimuseum (Germany)

Membership and Activities

Membership in the NSMMN is free of charge, although it does not include coverage of travel expenses. Members collaborate in various ways, including the joint use of fellowship programs. These opportunities, along with relevant news, announcements, and expertise, are disseminated through a bi-annual electronic newsletter curated by the network.