The long-standing Director of the Swiss National Museum, Andreas Spillmann, is to leave the museum group next spring. The Museum’s Management Board has already started taking steps towards finding a successor.

Andreas Spillmann is to leave the Swiss National Museum (SNM) in spring 2021. Because the role of Director of the National Museum is so important on the Swiss museums scene, Andreas Spillmann informed the museum’s Management Board and the Head of the Department of Home Affairs, Federal Councillor Alain Berset, of his future plans before the summer. That allows plenty of time for a suitable successor to be found. The Management Board has already started the selection process.

Spillmann, who comes from Zurich, has been in charge of the museum group since 2006, and under his leadership the Swiss National Museum has once again become the most visited museum of cultural history in Switzerland. The total number of visitors to the museums, including the Château de Prangins near Nyon, the Forum of Swiss History in Schwyz and the Collection Centre in Affoltern am Albis, has risen from 137,000 a year to 370,000.

After around 14 years on the Swiss museums scene, Andreas Spillmann wants to take on another entirely new challenge. He has not yet decided exactly what that will be. It is perfect timing for a change at the top of the SNM: For the first time in many years, the National Museum can continue with its well-regulated running of the museum without any additional building projects to contend with.

In the last few years, the museum group has successfully completed several major projects, including the transition from being administered by the state to become an autonomous legal entity, the establishment of a lively programme of exhibitions and events at the museums and the expansion and complete refurbishment of the National Museum in Zurich.