On 1 October 2016, shipyard founder Oliver Berking opened the first exhibition at his museum, thereby laying the foundations for a new cultural attraction in his home town. What began as a venue dedicated to classic yachts, maritime history and the unique world of yacht building quickly developed into an institution with cultural aspirations that extend far beyond these areas. Several hundred thousand visitors have visited the museum over the past ten years.
The highest standards
Right from the very first exhibition, ‘Royal Yachting’, Berking brought exhibits to Flensburg on loan from European royal houses, royal yacht clubs, museums and private collectors, which attracted large numbers of visitors. Many of the items had never before been shown in public. This set a standard that was to shape the museum in the years that followed.
Sailing President
A year later, to mark the 100th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s birth, the exhibition ‘Kennedy – The Sailing President’ was held in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. The exhibition portrayed Kennedy as a man for whom sailing held special significance, from his youth right through to his time in the White House. Among the most striking artefacts were small sketches of sailing boats that Kennedy had drawn on the margin of a daily newspaper on the morning of his death.
Carlo Riva
Time and again, the museum has also paid tribute to legendary shipyards and their creators, including Henry Rasmussen and Carlo Riva. The Riva exhibition was particularly spectacular, as the museum managed to bring a specimen of every boat model from the Carlo Riva era to Flensburg. For several months, these famous mahogany boats transformed the museum into a tribute to an era in which boatbuilding, Italian design and the world of the international jet set formed a unique alliance.
America’s Cup
Undoubtedly one of the highlights of the first ten years was the major exhibition in 2019 on the history of the America’s Cup, the world’s oldest international sporting trophy after the Olympic Games. On display were extraordinary artefacts spanning more than a century and a half of sailing and technological history. These ranged from historical models and documents to one of the world’s very few replicas of the famous cup itself, which was loaned by New Zealand.
During this exhibition, Flensburg itself became the centre of the America’s Cup world for one evening: on 16 November 2019, the America’s Cup Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place at the Robbe & Berking Museum – only the second time ever in Europe since 1851. Numerous sailors, designers and figures associated with the world’s most famous sailing competition travelled to Flensburg for the occasion. Never before had so many prominent figures from the history of the America’s Cup gathered in one place in Germany.
Open Cultural Venue
The years that followed demonstrated that the museum’s scope had long since extended beyond yachts and sailing. With exhibitions and projects on art, photography, design, urban development, industrial history and contemporary crafts, the museum increasingly became an open cultural venue. The history of the Flensburg Shipbuilding Company found its place here, as did the North German Realists and international silversmithing.
With the World Press Photo Exhibition, the world finally came to Flensburg in 2020 – in the most literal sense – and has since been shown exclusively at the Robbe & Berking Museum in Schleswig-Holstein year after year. Every year, the internationally acclaimed entries from this renowned photojournalism competition showcase images of the social upheavals and the big questions of our time.
Anniversary exhibition
The ‘Winterwerft’ marks the start of the year’s final exhibition. The public anniversary opening to mark 10 years of the Robbe & Berking Museum and the launch of the Winterwerft will take place on 3 October 2026, from 5 pm at the Robbe & Berking Museum Yachting Heritage Centre, Harniskai 13, 24937 Flensburg.