Museums enjoy a high degree of authenticity among the general public, since they reach a wide audience with their exhibitions and communication programs. As a result, they bear a great deal of social responsibility. With support from the Daimler and Benz Foundation, the Leibniz Research Alliance Historical Authenticity together with further partners staged an international specialist conference in 2016, at which current key challenges of museum work were examined in an interdisciplinary forum with scientists and museum operators. Various discussions dealt with how authenticity is generated through collection and research, preservation and restoration, but also through exhibition concepts and communication activities.

The lectures and discussions on this topic that arose in the course of this and further international specialist conferences initiated by the Leibniz Research Alliance up until 2019 have now given rise to a publication. The volume “Museums – Places of Authenticity?” unites 43 contributions by 56 authors, who present their views on the phenomenon of “authenticity” from the perspective of various disciplines.