The Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin. (Jensens/Flickr)

It's a moment of profound change in the Guggenheim museum empire. Helsinki, Finland, is weighing a plan to become home to a Guggenheim and work is moving forward on the moderately delayed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Now the museum and Deutsche Bank have announced that the Berlin branch they have run together for 14 years will close at the end of the year, according to Bloomberg.

Details are scant as to the reasoning for the decision. The partners released an e-mail announcing the news, noting that some 1.8 million visitors have visited the space. The statement also says that there are "concrete plans to put the relations between the two organizations on a new basis." Which could mean just about anything.

The mobile BMW Guggenheim Lab is set to visit Berlin in May, so the people there will at least have two Guggenheims for a short period. The Guggenheim also operates museums in Venice, here in New York and in Bilbao, Spain.