Shared infrastructure. For everyone who holds culture together.

A digital foundation for your association – one that connects without standardizing.

Büro mit Aktenregalen, vier Personen telefonieren, lesen und arbeiten an Computern

Whether umbrella association, sector association, independent organization, or special-purpose association – OpenCulturas gives you and your members a digital foundation that grows with your structure and remains in place once funding ends.

Does this sound familiar?

  • "Each of our member organizations maintains its own data – and we have no overview."

  • "The funding project runs for three years. What happens after that is still open."

  • "We'd need a shared platform – but every organization has different requirements."

  • "The last software was affordable. Until the vendor changed the terms."

What OpenCulturas does for associations

Shared data foundation, decentralized maintenance

Your member organizations retain sovereignty over their own data – and as an association, you get the overview you need for reports, funding applications, and strategic decisions. No duplicate data maintenance, no loss of information.

Sustainable beyond the end of funding

OpenCulturas can be run by a municipality, carried by a cooperative, or hosted by a service provider. The project ends – the infrastructure stays. And the data belongs to you, not to a vendor.

Flexible enough for different structures

Umbrella association with 200 members or small special-purpose association with three organizations – OpenCulturas scales. Each organization can use the platform according to its needs, without the association losing control.

Open, auditable, adaptable

As open-source software, OpenCulturas is fully transparent. No hidden licensing model, no unilateral changes by a vendor. What you set up today is still yours tomorrow.

Which associations is OC made for?

  • Umbrella associations

    (e.g. state music councils, cultural councils)
    You coordinate many organizations with different profiles. OpenCulturas gives you shared infrastructure without limiting your members' independence.

  • Sector associations & independent organizations

    (e.g. library associations, museum associations, non-profit organizations)
    You know the specific requirements of your sector and your organizations better than any software provider. OpenCulturas is extensible, actively developed further with specialist communities – and remains usable even when funding projects end.

  • Special-purpose associations / municipal cultural companies

    You operate in the space between municipal administration and cultural practice. OpenCulturas is procurement-compliant and meets the requirements of public tendering.

Frequently asked questions from an association perspective

  • Yes. OpenCulturas can be operated entirely on your own servers in Germany. There is no dependency on US cloud services or the like. Users also have control over the storage of their personal data...

    Quick info

    Yes. OpenCulturas can be operated entirely on your own servers in Germany. There is no dependency on US cloud services or the like. Users also have control over the storage of their personal data...

  • You can handle this yourselves, through an IT service provider of your choice, or by having a member of the OpenCulturas network take it on. There is no obligation to get hosting or maintenance...

    Quick info

    You can handle this yourselves, through an IT service provider of your choice, or by having a member of the OpenCulturas network take it on. There is no obligation to get hosting or maintenance...

  • Both versions are possible. From the start, OpenCulturas supports central installations with multiple sub-organizations. Also already solved: filtered calendars or an overview of all member...

    Quick info

    Both versions are possible. From the start, OpenCulturas supports central installations with multiple sub-organizations. Also already solved: filtered calendars or an overview of all member...

  • This is a common and very important question, quite independent of OpenCulturas. The software was specifically designed for such situations and can be operated beyond the funding period even with a...

    Quick info

    This is a common and very important question, quite independent of OpenCulturas. The software was specifically designed for such situations and can be operated beyond the funding period even with a...

Next steps

Visit one of our open information sessions or contact us for a personal consultation.

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Silhouette eines Kung-Fu-Sprungs vor Merblick

The software's virtual roadshow

Demonstration of OpenCulturas: how everything is interconnected, how to add content. Live demo on our demo system. Bring your questions and we'll be happy to answer them.

Quick info

Demonstration of OpenCulturas: how everything is interconnected, how to add content. Live demo on our demo system. Bring your questions and we'll be happy to answer them.