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Sponsorship and Financing
The federal government and all the states finance the Foundation and also work together on its committees. Together they care for the holdings and the development of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz.
The federal structure of the Foundation underscores the importance of the Prussian heritage for the cultural nation of Germany. At the same time, it makes it clear that the preservation and care of this heritage is a joint responsibility. The sponsorship and joint financing of the Foundation are rooted in the law that established the Foundation. The statutes of the Foundation and the financing agreement of the federal government and the federal states stipulate the details of this.
The Federal and State Governments in the Organs of the Foundation
The federal government and all sixteen federal states send representatives to the decision-making committee of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz: the Foundation Board. It also recommends the President of the Foundation, who is then appointed by the Federal President.
The federal government and the federal states also have the right to recommend members of the Advisory Board, the advisory organ of the Foundation. The Foundation appoints the members of the Advisory Board.
The Agreement on Financing between the Federal and State Governments
After the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz was founded, in addition to the federal government at first only the States of Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein were prepared to finance the Foundation. Beginning in 1975, however, the other federal states participated as well. The first “Abkommen über die gemeinsame Finanzierung der Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz” (Agreement on the Joint Financing of the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz) between the federal government and the eleven federal states that existed at the time was therefore a milestone in the history of the Foundation. It placed the Foundation’s work on a solid financial footing and finally made it an institution of the entire nation.
Following German reunification, the five new federal states joined the financing agreement on 1 January 1992. Following a transitional phase and extended negotiations, a new financing agreement was signed in 1996. This “Abkommen über die gemeinsame Finanzierung der Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz” is still in force today.
The financing agreement stipulates how the federal government and the federal states will guarantee the Foundation’s financing. The federal government meets the costs of seventy-five per cent of the publically funded part of the budget. The federal states pay twenty-five per cent. The agreement establishes a basic allowance of 120 million euros for operating costs. An annual financing requirement that exceeds that amount is shared by the federal government (seventy-five per cent) and the State of Berlin (twenty-five per cent).
The costs for construction and large renovations projects were initially shared equally by the federal government and the State of Berlin. Since 2003, the federal government funds the Foundation’s entire construction budget.