Overview

• The museum held its final public opening on Oct. 5 in its S-Bahn arch near Bellevue and will remain in the space through year-end to sort next steps.
• Founder Barbara Dechant says the museum lacked regular institutional funding as visitor numbers halved since COVID-19 and energy and operating costs rose.
• Dechant reports four project funding bids were rejected this year, and the museum is still seeking donations to cover rent and repay substantial pandemic aid.
• The team plans to intensify talks with potential hosts after closing, hopes to keep the collection intact, and views temporary storage as a last resort.
• The holdings include about 3,500 letters and signs—mainly from Berlin but also Germany, Austria and Switzerland—such as the “Zierfische,” “Möbelhaus Kern” and “Tagesspiegel” scripts, maintained largely by volunteers.