Prussia Foundation to get involved internationally

Created: 2022-12-27Updated: 2022-12-27 09:35

The Villa von der Heydt, seat of the President and the main administration of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK).

© Fabian Sommer/dpa/archive image

With millions of art treasures, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation is one of the leading international cultural institutions.

But the foundation sometimes gets in its own way.

That should change.

Berlin - Autonomous museums, more money, a new name - according to the will of those responsible, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is supported by the federal and state governments, should also gain more international importance as Germany's largest cultural institution.

Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth expects more global glamor from the planned reform.

"If you want to play in a row with the Louvre, the British Museum or the Smithsonian Institution - and we want that - then it has to go in this direction too," said the Green politician to the German Press Agency in Berlin.

In addition to the State Library and other institutions, the foundation with around 2000 employees also includes the State Museums in Berlin with 15 collections and 4.7 million objects at 19 locations.

The foundation, founded in 1957, is considered too sluggish, and its museums are not up to the international standards of their potential.

“There was a great desire for strong house autonomy.

This very hierarchical model tended to limit creative freedom,” said Roth.

"Now there is a very clear vote on the one hand that it should remain a group, i.e. a house with a large roof, but in which the rooms can actually be designed very freely." The individual houses would have to implement their autonomy.

"First of all, it's not a question of money."

Roth also wants to rename the association.

"When the name Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation is mentioned, even well-informed people think of palaces and gardens and not of Beuys or Warhol or other great art that really has nothing to do with the name," she said.

"It's also about making the attractiveness nationally and internationally clear through the name."

The reform is expected to require more funding.

The country shares have been capped since 1996.

All countries together contribute around 15 percent of the budget, about 8 percent of which comes from Berlin as the home country.

The federal government pays around 85 percent.

According to calculations, without the federal states, the federal government would have to raise an additional 50 million euros.

Roth referred to the new focal points of the foundation, which “should make federal programs and establish best practices together with state institutions.

If that succeeds, then we can certainly talk to the federal states about greater financial participation.

I'm sure: the better the idea and the implementation, the greater the willingness will be." Roth would like the countries to say: "This is the wealth of all of us."

Foundation President Hermann Parzinger can imagine a renaming.

"We are a big international player," he told dpa, "but when you translate Prussian cultural heritage into French, English or Spanish in international committees, you always have to explain what it is about and why one of the world's largest German cultural institutions has this name wearing."

"We are in a phase in which we cannot only look back, but also have to look ahead to the future," said Parzinger.

It's also about global competition.

The desire to cooperate with the foundation is a huge opportunity, for example to develop a new relationship with the Global South.

“As a large association, we have a high level of diverse expertise that we want to contribute.

Therefore, a name would be good that not only emphasizes our undoubtedly important roots, but also opens up perspectives for the future.”

Parzinger hopes that the upcoming reform will strengthen its individual parts.

"It is crucial that the institutions are given more autonomy and responsibility," he said.

“We have to make brands like Hamburger Bahnhof, the Pergamon Museum and the Picture Gallery strong.

These are the brands that people know.” The added value should be visible in exhibition projects.

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At the same time, Parzinger referred to an increasing financial need.

"The federal and state governments know that without more money and more staff, the reform will only be piecemeal." There are enormous deficits in staffing and financial resources, especially in the museums.

"An increase in quality cannot be achieved with the existing resources."

From the point of view of Berlin's Senator for Culture, Klaus Lederer, the influence of the federal states is also important when it comes to the equipment.

"The question of financing will of course also deal with the question of the influence and participation of the federal states in the committees and the role of the federal government," said the left-wing politician of the dpa.

"It will be all the more imperative that everything actually bears fruit in the end." Of course, the reform will cost money, "but I dare not make any predictions about what additional costs will actually arise".

For this reason, Lederer sees a need for finance ministers and prime ministers to find a solution.

dpa