A museum of world cultures can no longer exist without a European department. In a city such as Frankfurt Main and as part of a world wide network, the Museum der Weltkulturen considers it one of its important tasks to make transparent the manifold relations existing between continents transparent and to sensibilise the public to the mutual responsibility which, in enlightened self-interest, is to be respected.

Cultural process are woven together across the world which, though no recent phenomenon, with greater in intensity than ever before. The methods for presenting and analysing living and transforming cultures approximate each other independently of the continent in which these cultures are practiced. And yet, a department on Europe cannot thematise this continent in quite the same way as do other departments responsible for the other continents. There are special museums on the various categories of European (one’s own) culture – those for art, history, traditional folk culture and everyday culture. A small European department in this museum cannot compete with these.

The task of the European department is thus to function as a point of connection and contact to the cultural historical and folkloristic museums and collections as well as to the respective scientific discourses relating to Europe. In all cases in which European themes together with those from of cultures become the object of the museum’s activities, the European department establishes the corresponding references.

Secondly, and this is, after all, something which corresponds to the traditions of ethnological museums, the European department contains a small collection of objects on marginalised ethnic groups, such as the Scandinavian Samen and the European Sinti and Romanies.

Thirdly, the European department places an emphasis on north-south cultural relations. To this belongs a programme of collecting which is currently being expanded, of “things which can only emerge from the encounter between north and south.” From the concomitant, highly complex industrial societies and pre- industrial life forms outside Europe and their encounter in trade, (neo-) colonialism, war, tourism, communication, development policy, products and product lines emerge the documents of which shed light on cultural processes and sensitise one to their dynamic. In terms of content, the European department makes a special effort to develop a thorough going competence on questions relating to cultural processes within the context of globalisation. Themes, such as culture and development, dialogue between cultures, cultural aspects of the policies of sustainability and peace-keeping count among those things with which the European department concerns itself.