State Institute for Music Research

The State Institute for Music Research (German: Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung or SIMPK) is a musicological research facility in Berlin, Germany for the study of Musical Instruments, Music History, Music Theory and Music technology. It is an agency of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and operates the Berlin Musical Instrument Museum.

The current Institute is a direct descendant of several institutions of the former Kingdom of Prussia. In 1888, a formalized collection of ancient musical instruments was established at the Prussian Royal Academy of Music. By 1902, the collection had grown substantially through the financial support of Wilhelm II. In 1919 Curt Sachs, one of the founders of the field of organology (the study of musical instruments), was appointed the first Director of the instrument collection. In 1917, an Institute for Musicological Research was also founded under the patronage of Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe in Bückeburg.

At the start of the Third Reich in 1933, Sachs was dismissed and forced to emigrate by the Nazi Party. In 1935 a new National Institute for German Music Research was founded in Berlin, led by Max Seiffert, incorporating the old Royal College and the Bückeburg Institute. World War II then saw the nearly complete destruction of the Institute and the Museum. In 1943, the instruments, scores and library collections were evacuated from Berlin to protect them from Allied bombing. Despite extensive security, the majority were lost. In January 1945, "by Decree of the Reich Minister for Science, Education and Education", the Institute was closed. At war's end, only 700 of the original 4,000 musical instruments survived.

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