Reorganization of the “Peterhof ” State Museum-Reserve in the 21st century

The article reveals the content of the “Peterhof ” State Museum-Reserve’s stages of modernization in 2009–2020, analyzes the effectiveness of measures developed by the management of the museum-reserve to support new areas of development, and presents the stages of transformation of a linear management system to a multi-level museum complex. The basis for the article are reports and a number of program documents from the “Peterhof ” State Museum-Reserve, made available for scientific circulation for the first time. The key document of the analysis is the Concept of Development of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture “State Museum- Reserve” Peterhof “for the period 2012–2016, which formulates the main theses of the museum’s transition to a strategic planning system. Along with the preservation of traditional museum functions, in the practical activities of the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve special attention is paid to the innovations introduced in museum practices of the 21st century: creating a museum management system and museum policy in general, a system of external museum communications, a museum positioning system and organizing sustainable interaction with visitors. Relevant components of the concept “image of a modern museum-reserve” are revealed, which correlate with the practical activities of the departments and divisions of the museum under analysis. The author proposes and substantiates an innovative system of continuous visitor support, in which it becomes possible to effectively manage the interaction of the museum and the visitor. The most important economic result of the modernization of the museum-reserve is the formation of effective mechanisms that improve the work of the museum in the conditions of market relations and allow for the establishment of a stable system of interaction with visitors. The presented experience of the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve can become a guide for Russian regional museums-reserves when choosing directions for the development of museum complexes.