In 1984, Klaus J. Jacobs opened the Jacobs Suchard Museum at that site. It documented the history of the Jacobs coffee empire, founded in Bremen in 1895 under the name “Specialgeschäft in Caffee, Thee, Cacao, Chocoladen und Biscuits.”

The Jacobs Foundation was established at Jacobs Haus in 1989, with the mission of providing children and youth with opportunities for positive development, enabling them to become productive and responsible members of society.

Jacobs Suchard was sold to Philip Morris in 1990, and the museum’s holdings were transferred to the Jacobs Foundation. The museum was renamed the Johann Jacobs Museum in honor of the company’s founder.

In 2013, after two years of renovations by the architectural firm of Miller & Maranta, the Jacobs Haus opened its doors as a lively place for creative learning and dialogue. At that time the museum also shifted its focus, and until 2021, it shed light on the complex history of global trade routes.

In 2022, the Jacobs Foundation will launch the ‘Global Education Museum Initiative’ (GEMINI), a global virtual network of museums that focus on learning and education. The initiative will build and maintain the infrastructure to amalgamate global perspectives, historic and current, on learning and education. Artistic representation of learning themes will be a key focus.