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Zeche Zollverein: Almost the winner
Photo: S. Ziese / picture alliance / blickwinkel
The competition that Essen and Düsseldorf have been fighting for months is about a lot: the federal government wants to found a national institute for photography, and the place where it will find its home can look forward to an enormous increase in importance.
Such a facility will also broadcast internationally.
The two cities on the Ruhr and Rhine were available for selection.
First things looked better for Düsseldorf, then for Essen.
Now, apparently, neither of the two candidates should be completely alienated - and instead a double solution.
A feasibility study is to be presented soon, but it doesn't matter what this analysis says: In the end, Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters will satisfy both locations.
»Future for Photography«
This is supported by the fact that she now rejects any discussion of the location.
She wants to find a way how the interests of both sides can "be effectively implemented".
After all, everyone wanted the same thing: photographic art in Germany had to be given an "institutionally supported" future.
However, it is a difficult situation because there are "many emotions" in it.
Andreas Gursky, world-famous artist photographer from Düsseldorf and co-initiator of the Düsseldorf concept, becomes more specific: Together with Grütters and her colleague Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen from North Rhine-Westphalia, "we are on the right track for both concepts and both locations," he told SPIEGEL.
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Düsseldorf Ehrenhof: space and money for a second center?
Photo: Thomas Robbin / imageBROKER / picture alliance
Not least thanks to Gursky, Düsseldorf was originally the favorite for the project.
Together with like-minded people, the artist had developed a concept for a more technically oriented competence center in his hometown.
Allies in state and federal politics supported the project.
In November 2019, the budget committee of the Bundestag made more than 40 million euros available for a national photo institute, specifically for the Düsseldorf location.
The state government and the state capital wanted to co-finance the construction of the center, which should be built on the important area of the court of honor.
Laschet's triumph
Prime Minister Armin Laschet triumphed at the time, this decision was "a great success for North Rhine-Westphalia" and Düsseldorf was an "excellent location for the nationwide important project".
His party colleague Grütters didn't care much at first, she reacted angrily.
Because the most powerful cultural politician in the republic planned to found a photography institute herself.
She felt taken by surprise by the decision of the budget committee in 2019, and she was particularly bothered by the decision to go to Düsseldorf.
In 2020, a commission of photo experts appointed by her came to the conclusion that Essen was the better location, not least because the Folkwang Museum located there is considered a good address for photography.
It is now clear that Essen could also build a suitable plot of land on the Zeche Zollverein.
more on the subject
Controversial photo institute: Commission recommends Essen as a location
Icon: Spiegel Plus Andreas Gursky and Moritz Wegwerth in a double interview: "This is how photography becomes immortal" An interview by Ulrike Knöfel and Stefan Weigel
Icon: Spiegel Plus Planned center for photography: Rhine or not RhineBy Ulrike Knöfel and Stefan Weigel
Now the surprising turnaround: harmony should return, a happy ending.
But that could be difficult, there has been a lot of arguments behind the scenes in recent months, and not everyone has forgiven everyone.
Some wonder whether Essen might not end up being a loser after all, who is put up with a small solution.
After all, the budget committee's money is still earmarked for Düsseldorf.
Felix Krämer, General Director of the Düsseldorf Museum Kunstpalast Foundation, explains that two houses could actually make sense.
The concepts are very different, it is justifiable and desirable to implement both.
While the Düsseldorf concept was mainly developed by artists, a photo-historical perspective is more visible in Essen.
In any case, museums must rely on photography more than ever, because this medium is of particular interest to the younger generation.
The decision-making, which looked unusual from the start, will definitely go down in history.
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