Our history

The Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures was founded in 1969 as the national centre for culture collection in Göttingen, Germany. It was originally part of the Gesellschaft für Strahlenforschung (GSF) and was later moved to Braunschweig to become an independent institution.

1969 foundation of a national culture collection, supported by external grants. Decentralized organization with headquarter in Göttingen
1971 shortly after foundation, 235 bacterial cultures are sold to external scientists
1972 the first patent strain is included in the closed collection
1973 official name "Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen (DSM)"
1974 recognition as official patent deposit by the German Patent and Trade Mark Office
1976 DSM becomes an independent collection at the Institute of Microbiology in Göttingen; transfer of 1,200 phytopathogenic fungi from the Biologische Bundesanstalt Berlin-Dahlem to Göttingen
1979 DSM is outsourced from the Gesellschaft für Strahlenforschung and transfered to the Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung (GBF) in Braunschweig; head of the institute is Dr. Dieter Claus
1981 recognition as International Depositary Authority (IDA) for patent purposes according to the Budapest Treaty
1987 unification of all German collections in Braunschweig at the Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung mBH; establishment of the new collections of plant cell lines as well as human and animal cell lines
1988 renaming to "Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen"; legally independent body established as a nonprofit accepted private limited company (GmbH)
1990 uptake of the plant virus collection of Prof. Dr. Rudolf Bercks (Braunschweig)
1992 IMET Kulturensammlung des Zentralinstituts für Mikrobiologie und experimentelle Therapie (ZIMET) in Jena becomes a temporary branch office of the DSMZ; beginning of the transfer of IMET patent strains and other selected strains to Braunschweig
1993 appointment of Prof. Dr. Erko Stackebrandt as Scientific Director (1993-2010)
1996 DSMZ becomes member of the Leibniz Association
2004 establishment of quality management according to ISO 9001:2000
2010 appointment of Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann as Scientific Director; foundation of the fifth department Microbial Ecology and Biodiversity Research
2011 renaming in Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH; establishment of a bioinformatic unit and high-throughput sequencing center
2012 launch of the phenotypic database BacDive
2012-2014 establishment of three independent junior research groups: Microbial Cell Biology, Single Cell Genomics and Molecular Tumor Research
2014 Prof. Dr. Ulrich Nübel joins DSMZ as head of the research unit Microbial Genome Research; the DSMZ main building is increased by one floor
2015 groundbreaking ceremony at the Science Campus Braunschweig-Süd for the "Zentrum für Wirkstoff- und Funktionelle Genomforschung", jointly set up with the Helmholtzzentrum für Infektionsforschung and the TU Braunschweig
2016 establishment of a new collection department Bioresources for Bioeconomy and Health Research
2017 Prof. Dr. Michael Pester joins DSMZ as head of the department Microorganisms; establishment of three independent junior research groups: Bacterial Metabolomics, Microbial Biotechnology, VirusInteract
2018 first European Registered Collection; implementation of a dual management with Prof. Dr. Jörg Overmann as Scientific Director and Bettina Fischer as Administrative Director; recertification according to ISO 9001:2015; accreditation according to ISO 17034:2017
2019 50th anniversary of DSMZ in Braunschweig, Germany; Prof. Dr. Yvonne Mast joins DSMZ as head of the department Bioresources for Bioeconomy and Health Research
2020 move of the department Bioresources for Bioeconomy and Health Research into the new "Zentrum für Wirkstoff- und Funktionelle Genomforschung" on the Science Campus Braunschweig-Süd. Appointment of Prof. Dr. Laura Steenpaß as head of the department Human and Animal Cell Lines. PD Dr. Meina Neumann-Schaal takes over the Services Department. Successful evaluation by the Senate of the Leibniz Association.
2021 Launch of the DFG-funded National Research Data Infrastructure NFDI4Microbiota; co-authoring of the position paper on biodiversity conservation through OpenDSI within the Leibniz Research Network Biodiversity