1900s

Years

1900

Managua - Museo Nacional de Nicaragua "Diocleciano Chaves"

First public opening

1901

Geneva - MEG — Musée d'ethnographie de Genève

First public opening

1903

Harare - Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences

First public opening (as Queen Victoria Museum)

1905

Sofia - Natsionalen arheologicheski muzey

First public opening

1906

Munich - Deutsches Museum

First public opening

1908

Denver - Denver Museum of Nature and Science

First public opening

Kampala - Uganda Museum

First public opening

1910

Houston - Museum of Natural Science

First public display of collections (most likely sometime during the 1910s)

Mexico City - Museo Nacional de Antropología

First public opening (as Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Historia y Etnografía)

Monaco - Musée Océanographique

First public opening

Zurich - Kunsthaus Zürich

First public opening

1911

Montevideo - Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales

First public opening

1913

Dhaka - Bangladesh National Museum

First public opening

Havana - Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba

First public opening

Los Angeles - Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

First public opening

Maputo - Museum of Natural History

First public opening

1914

Toronto - Royal Ontario Museum

First public opening

1916

Helsinki - Suomen kansallismuseo

First public opening

1919

Damascus - National Museum of Damascus

First public opening

Denver - Denver Art Museum

First public opening

Kabul - National Museum of Afghanistan

First public opening

London - Science Museum

First public opening in its own dedicated building (previously part of the South Kensington Museum since 1858)

Minsk - National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus

First public opening (as Minsk Regional Museum)

1920

Phnom Penh - National Museum of Cambodia

First public opening

1921

Ankara - Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi

First public opening

Baku - National Museum of History of Azerbaijan

First public opening

Yerevan - History Museum of Armenia

First public opening

1922

Tartu - Eesti Rahva Muuseum

First public opening

1923

Amsterdam - NEMO Science Museum

First public opening (as Museum van den Arbeid)

1924

Istanbul - Topkapı Sarayı Müzesi

First public opening (as a museum)

Nicosia - Κυπριακό Μουσείο (Cyprus Museum)

First public opening

Skopje - Museum of Macedonia

First public opening

1925

Bishkek - National Historical Museum of the Kyrgyz Republic

First public opening

1926

Baghdad - Iraqi Museum

First public opening

Cetinje - Narodni muzej Crne Gore

First public opening

Lima - Museo Larco

First public opening

1928

San Marino, California - The Huntington

First public opening

1929

New York City - Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

First public opening

1930

Berlin - Pergamonmuseum

First public opening

Nairobi - Nairobi National Museum

First public opening (as Coryndon Museum)

1933

Bridgetown - Barbados Museum & Historical Society

First public opening

Chicago - Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

First public opening

Mogadishu - National Museum of Somalia

First public opening

1934

Dushanbe - National Museum of Tajikistan

First public opening

Livingstone - Livingstone Museum

First public opening

1936

Fairbanks, AK - University of Alaska Museum of the North

First public opening

1937

Tehran - National Museum of Iran

First public opening

1938

Caracas - Museo de Bellas Artes

First public opening

Kathmandu - National Museum of Nepal

First public opening

1939

New York City - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

First public opening (as Museum of Non-Objective Painting)

1940

Dar es Salaam - National Museum and House of Culture

First public opening

1941

Washington D.C. - National Gallery of Art

First public opening

1942

Abidjan - Museum of Civilizations of Côte d’Ivoire

First public opening

Beirut - National Museum of Beirut

First public opening

1945

Pyongyang - Korean Central History Museum

First public opening

Seoul - National Museum of Korea

First public opening

1946

Luxembourg City - Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart

First public opening

1947

Vancouver - Museum of Anthropology at UBC

First public opening

1949

New Delhi - National Museum

First public opening

Pristina - Muzeu Kombëtar i Kosovës

First public opening

1951

Karachi - National Museum of Pakistan

First public opening

Los Angeles - California Science Center

First public opening

Stralsund - Deutsche Meeresmuseum

First public opening

1952

Malé - National Museum

First public opening

Paramaribo - Surinaams Museum

First public opening

Yangon - National Museum of Myanmar

First public opening

1953

Bamako - National Museum of Mali

First public opening

Sinaia - Peleș National Museum

First public opening

1954

Los Angeles - J. Paul Getty Museum

First public opening

1955

Gitega - National Museum of Gitega

First public opening

Koror - Belau National Museum

First public opening

Suva - Fiji Museum

First public opening

1956

Morija - Morija Museum & Archives

First public opening

1957

Accra - National Museum of Ghana

First public opening

Blantyre - Museum of Malawi (Chichiri Museum)

First public opening (as Nyasaland Museum)

Freetown - Sierra Leone National Museum

First public opening

Lagos - National Museum Lagos

First public opening

1958

Addis Ababa - National Museum of Ethiopia

First public opening

Hanoi - Vietnam National Museum of History

First public opening

Monrovia - National Museum of Liberia

First public opening

Valletta - Mużew Nazzjonali tal-Arkeoloġija

First public opening (as the National Museum)

1959

Lucerne - Verkehrshaus der Schweiz

First public opening

Niamey - Boubou Hama National Museum

First public opening

1962

Berlin - Mauermuseum Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie

First public opening

La Paz - Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore (MUSEF)

First public opening

N'Djamena - Chad National Museum

First public opening

1963

Barcelona - Museu Picasso de Barcelona

First public opening

Kuala Lumpur - National Museum of Malaysia

First public opening

1964

Washington D.C. - National Museum of American History

First public opening

1965

Jerusalem - Israel Museum

First public opening

Nuuk - Greenland National Museum

First public opening

Taipei - National Palace Museum

First public opening

Victoria - Seychelles National Museum of History

First public opening

1968

Gaborone - Botswana National Museum

First public opening

Paro - National Museum of Bhutan

First public opening

Washington D.C. - National Portrait Gallery

First public opening

1969

Bratislava - Historické múzeum

First public opening

Honiara - Solomon Islands National Museum

First public opening

Quito - Museo Nacional del Ecuador (MuNa)

First public opening

1970

Antananarivo - Museum of Art and Archaeology

First public opening

1971

Khartoum - Sudan National Museum

First public opening

Sanaa - National Museum of Yemen

First public opening

Ulaanbaatar - National Museum of Mongolia

First public opening in present building (as Museum of Revolution)

1972

Bucharest - Muzeul Național de Istorie a României

First public opening

Lobamba - Eswatini National Museum

First public opening (as Swaziland National Museum)

Nouakchott - National Museum of Mauritania

First public opening

1973

Amsterdam - Van Gogh Museum

First public opening

Santo Domingo - Museum of the Dominican Man

First public opening

1975

Doha - National Museum of Qatar

First public opening

Lomé - National Museum of Togo

First public opening

São Tomé - São Sebastião Museum

First public opening

1976

Luanda - National Museum of Anthropology

First public opening

St. George’s - Grenada National Museum

First public opening

Stuttgart - Porsche Museum

First public opening

Washington D.C. - National Air and Space Museum

First public opening

1977

Paris - Centre Pompidou

First public opening

Port Moresby - Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery

First public opening

1980

Asunción - Museo del Barro

First public opening

1981

Majuro - Alele Museum & Public Library

First public opening

Santiago - Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

First public opening

Tirana - National History Museum

First public opening

1983

Chișinău - Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei

First public opening

Port-au-Prince - National Pantheon Museum

First public opening

1984

Sofia - Natsionalen istoricheski muzey

First public opening

1985

Banjul - National Museum of The Gambia

First public opening

St. John's - Museum of Antigua and Barbuda

First public opening

1986

Kingston - Bob Marley Museum

First public opening

Kuwait City - Kuwait National Museum

First public opening

Paris - Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie

First public opening

Paris - Musée d'Orsay

First public opening

1988

Manama - Bahrain National Museum

First public opening

Tripoli - National Museum of Libya

First public opening

1989

Butare - Ethnographic Museum

First public opening

1990

Kulionys - Lithuanian Museum of Ethnocosmology

First public opening

Vientiane - Lao National Museum

First public opening

1991

Bikenibeu (Tarawa Island) - Te Umwanibong Kiribati National Museum

First public opening

Berlin - Deutsches Historisches Museum

First public opening

1992

Bandar Seri Begawan - Royal Regalia Museum

First public opening (as Royal Regalia Museum)

Madrid - Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía

First public opening

Madrid - Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

First public opening

1994

Bonn - Haus der Geschichte

First public opening

Mexico City - Museo Soumaya

First public opening

San Pedro Sula - Museo de Antropología e Historia

First public opening

1995

Port Vila - Nasonal Miusium blong Vanuatu

First public opening

1996

Rio de Janeiro - Niterói Contemporary Art Museum

First public opening

1997

Bilbao - Museo Guggenheim Bilbao

First public opening

Dublin - National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks

First public opening

Praia - Ethnographic Museum of Praia

First public opening

1998

Ashgabat - State Museum of the State Cultural Center of Turkmenistan

Lavish displays of archaeology, traditional culture, and state ideology in a grand, marble-clad building

Berlin - Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer

Initial re-erection of a section of the Berlin Wall as a memorial

Manila - National Museum of Fine Arts

First public opening

Wellington - Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

First public opening

1999

Riyadh - Saudi National Museum

First public opening

Page updated

Report abuse