Private company

Max Planck Society

Association of German research institutes

The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (German: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and nonprofit association of German research institutes.² From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 16, 2026.

Overview

Feb 26, 1948Founded¹

Industryresearch¹
HeadquartersMunich¹
Websitewww.mpg.de/de
Legal formRegistered association (eingetragener Verein)¹

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Leadership

Who has led Max Planck Society, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Chair

197019801990200020102020

ChairPatrick Cramer Jun 2023 to now¹
ChairMartin Stratmann Jun 2014 to Jun 2023¹
ChairPeter Gruss 2002 to 2014¹
ChairHubert Markl 1996 to 2002¹
ChairHans F. Zacher 1990 to 1996¹
ChairHeinz Staab 1984 to 1990¹
ChairReimar Lüst 1972 to 1984¹
ChairAdolf Butenandt 1960 to 1972¹
ChairOtto Hahn 1948 to 1960¹

Board members and other officers (11)

Board memberIain Couzin Jul 1, 2019 to now¹
Board memberPeter Seeberger Feb 1, 2009 to now¹
Board memberArno Villringer Dec 1, 2007 to now¹
Board memberJoão Alves 2006 to 2010¹
Board memberDietmar Vestweber Jul 1, 1999 to now¹
Board memberAnthony A. Hyman 1998 to now¹
Board memberMartin Jansen Jan 1, 1998 to Nov 30, 2012¹
Board memberKenneth Kellermann Oct 1, 1977 to Dec 31, 1979¹
Board memberAdolf Butenandt¹
Board memberHans F. Zacher¹
Board memberOtto Hahn¹

Subsidiaries and ownership

Subsidiaries

Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History
CENOBIUM
Center of Advanced European Studies and Research
Ernst Strüngmann Institute
Friedrich Miescher Lab
Fritz Haber Institute of the MPG
German Climate Computing Centre
Gesellschaft für wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen
Halbleiterlabor of the Max-Planck-Society
Institut de radioastronomie millimétrique
Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz
Max Planck Computing and Data Facility
Max Planck Digital Library
Max Planck Florida Institute
Max Planck Innovation
Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regulatory Procedural Law
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Economics
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics
Max Planck Institute for Biology
Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen
Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing

All 101 subsidiaries

Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Max Planck Institute for Biophysics
Max Planck Institute for Brain Research
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Max Planck Institute for Coal Research
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems
Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology
Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology
Max Planck Institute for Informatics
Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property and Competition Law
Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory
Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology
Max Planck Institute for Mathematics
Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences
Max Planck Institute for Medical Research
Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Max Planck Institute for Microstructure Physics
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Max Planck Institute for Physics
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy
Max Planck Institute for Security and Privacy
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy
Max Planck Institute for Software Systems
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials
Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems
Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies
Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology
Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology
Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (Greifswald)
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry
Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
Max Planck Research Unit for Enzymology of Protein Folding
Max Planck Research Unit for Neurogenetics
Max Planck Unit for Structural Molecular Biology
Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens
Minerva Stiftung

Also owns

Harnack House
Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law
Research Campus Golm
Schloss Ringberg
World Atlas of Language Structures

From Wikidata.¹

Employees over time

202123,950¹
201923,963¹

Revenue over time

As stated on Wikidata, in the currency reported.

Revenue

Max Planck Society revenue by year¹2.6B EUR in 2021+3% since 2019

20212.6B EUR¹
20202.5B EUR¹
20192.5B EUR¹

Timeline

Feb 26, 1948Founded Founded¹

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataMax Planck Society on Wikidata
2
WikipediaMax Planck Society on Wikipedia