On January 23, 2017 the Barberini Museum in the center of Potsdam will open its doors. The splendid palace, which is named after the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, is impressive. The museum will exhibit a wide range of art covering everything from old masters to contemporary works. The opening exhibition will focus on Impressionism, including works by Monet and Renoir.

The facade of the new "Museum for Contemporary Urban Art" in Berlin has already been colorfully painted but the exhibition in the corner house won't open until September 2017. The museum under the motto "Connect. Create. Care" aims to bring together urban artists and the public. Some 200 artists are participating and there is a lot to be done, as the façade is to be reworked on a regular basis.

How does our economic system work? How was the stock exchange created? These questions will be answered by the Swiss Finance Museum, which opens at the end of June. The exhibition focuses on capital markets, financial instruments and stock exchanges. It will also contain the world's most significant collection of historical securities called "Wertpapierwelt", which was exhibited in Olten.

In Austria the museum world is also active - the former Ethnological Museum which closed a few years ago is to be reopened in the fall of 2017 under the new name "Weltmuseum Wien" (World Museum Vienna). The 14 showrooms are to tell stories of the Orient, Oceania or North America. The museum boasts more than 200,000 ethnological objects, 100,000 historical photographs and 146,000 printed works.

Fashion might not have the same standing as art, designer Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) once said, "but it needs an artist to sustain it." This saying also applied to him personally. He shaped the fashion world and, when he died, he left to prosperity his neatly archived work. In October 2017 two new museums dedicated to the fashion designer's work will open - in Paris and in Marrakech.

The sculptures on the ocean floor already made headlines in 2016, when the first pictures of the underwater museum being created were published. Since January 2017 the Museo Atlántico on the island of Lanzarote has been open to divers and snorkelers. It is the first museum of its kind in Europe. The sculptures, of which there are over 300, were created by Jason deCaires Taylor.

A new museum opening in Stockholm seeks to shed light on the many myths, prejudices and misconceptions surrounding Vikings. Visitors to the Vikingaliv (Viking Life) museum will be able to go on an 11-minute gondola ride to experience life as it would have been in the year 963 while hearing the tale of Viking woman Ragnfird.

A prestigious project for Poland: documented in the 40 meter block is the suffering of the Polish people and others under German and Russian occupation. A political dispute on the thematic focus has delayed its opening, as the government prefers a more heroic historical representation of the Polish people. The museum is now awaiting a ruling by the minister for culture to enable them to open.

The creation of this museum in a former brewery was also not easy as it was plagued by financial and bureaucratic problems. Back in October 2016 it was partially opened, allowing access to some exhibitions. As of fall 2017 the entire collection is to be open to the public. Greek and international works of art dating from the late 1970s to the present day will then be on display.

And finally a look to London where the Victoria and Albert Museum will open a refurbished entrance area in July 2017. This represents the first architectural change to the building in 100 years. In addition the Sainsbury Gallery is being created, at 1,100 square meters the column-free exhibition space will be one of the largest in Great Britian.