Virtual enjoyment of art: visits to museums all over the world via zoom

The curator is passionate about his museum, that quickly becomes clear.

And he takes his guests with him: First he shows how the Albertina Modern is located in Vienna's old town with a drone approach and tells something about the renovation, then he sets course for the entrance to the special show: "The 80s - anything goes".

In fact, there is much more: the guests of the live tour did not travel to Vienna specifically.

They sit on the sofa in Bonn and Berlin, in Frankfurt, in the Taunus and in Tuscany, often have a glass of wine at hand, their computer halfway under control and the microphone muted for the time being: They use the zoom to take a look at the new gem on the Vienna Ring the works of Basquiat, Haring and other modern stars.

The organizer of this excursion is moderating from Oberursel and is happy: many of the 20 or so spectators who can be seen the size of postage stamps at the edge of the picture know them as regular guests in their virtual museum circle.

They've traveled a lot with her over the past 20 months, taking her to Venice, the Fallingwater House, blockbuster exhibitions and silent collections across Europe and North America.

“Of course,” says Christina von Falkenhausen, “I would rather settle down on the Grand Canal after a tour of the Doge’s Palace than call the pizza taxi, but I would never have organized more than 120 different museum tours live in just over a year and be able to experience it.”

Whisper via chat function

It all started with the "museum mice".

When Falkenhausen, a lawyer by training, moved from Düsseldorf to Frankfurt in 2005, she had already organized the “Night of the Museums” in both cities for five years.

She couldn't wait to pass her love of art on to her two children.

Since 2009 she has been arranging guided tours and workshops for children and young people in various age groups in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Munich.

On top of that, some friends in Frankfurt have been benefiting from Falkenhausen's expertise for a long time. She has a well-kept portfolio of art mediators from the entire region, who break down difficult themes with wit and knowledge and also make hidden treasures accessible.

When all cultural institutes suddenly closed in spring 2020, Falkenhausen couldn't stand it for long.

She called "her leaders" to see how they were doing, as many are freelancers.

And she asked if they dared to master the adult tours that had already been arranged virtually.

Many were ready.

This worked extremely well via the “Zoom” conference.

As with analogue tours, questions can be asked, even whispering is possible - via chat function, "but nobody bothers here".

Falkenhausen initially invited relatives from near and far to join the Frankfurt web tours.

They were enthusiastic, and inquiries soon came from their circle of friends.

In the second lockdown, a business was born out of necessity: Since February 2021, you can book zoom art tours from anywhere via the website

, they cost between 20 and 40 euros.

If you subscribe to the newsletter, you will receive the current offer by e-mail every week.

And the youngsters are now getting around a lot under the heading “School with a difference”.

Also asked about pandemic

However, starting the virtual cultural enterprise was not as easy as it sounds.

In addition to the zoom technology, it was necessary to program a professional website, install a booking system and book a program for sending out newsletters, each with a different provider.

As Falkenhausen reports, it became a family business in which her husband supported her with technology and bookkeeping.

When asked about the future of her company, Falkenhausen bubbles over with ideas for new series of topics, goals and groups of participants.

But not everything works virtually either: Some houses are not yet that technically advanced or have concerns about data protection and image rights, although no tour is recorded and they receive the usual salary for group tours.

Even when the pandemic is over and carefree museum visits will be possible again, Falkenhausen will not worry about its business model.

Some people are already booking a zoom tour to see whether it is worth going to a certain exhibition.

For example, she would like to offer virtual tours of the summer art events in Kassel and Venice.

However, negotiations are still ongoing.

She also sees art lovers who don't necessarily want to travel far to see an interesting exhibition as a target group.

Despite all the personal enthusiasm for the virtual museum visits: Falkenhausen is already looking forward to finally visiting their favorite places and works live again.