British Museum

On 25 September 2015, the trustees of the British Museum announced that Fischer would be the museum's next director.^[9][10] He is the first non-British head of the museum since the Italian Sir Anthony Panizzi stood down in 1866.^[11] He took up the appointment on 4 May 2016.^[1][12]

In his role as director, Fischer supported the museum's continued ownership of the Elgin Marbles, which were removed from the Acropolis in Athens by agents of Lord Elgin from 1799 to 1810.^[13] In January 2019, Fischer gave an interview to a Greek newspaper (in English) in which he called the removal of the marbles a "creative act", reaffirmed the British Museum's position of not loaning them to other museums, and stated that they were owned by the museum's trustees, rather than by the people of Athens.^[14] The Greek Minister of Culture and Sports, Myrsini Zorba, said in response that Fischer's comments "ignore the international debate and the Declarations of Unesco",^[15] while George Vardas, the secretary of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures, described Fischer's views as "astonishing historical revisionism and arrogance".^[14] In December 2022, it was reported in the British press that the British Museum had entered into talks with the Greek government for the permanent return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens.^[16][17]

In July 2023, Fischer announced that he would step down as director in 2024.^[18] In August 2023, he resigned due to the museum's response to thefts and announced that he would step down once the museum had set up an interim director.^[19] A staff member had previously been dismissed over the missing artefacts.^[20]