Structure

The Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) has since 1957 formed the room for five institutions that preserve the former Prussian collections. Through the Foundation Board, the federal government and all the state governments are involved in the work and development of the Foundation.

Die Struktur der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Die Struktur der Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

In the “Founding Law” of 1957, the management of Prussian cultural heritage was entrusted to the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Since then it has formed the framework for the museums, libraries, archives, and institutes that preserve the collections of the former Prussian state: the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin), the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Berlin State Library), the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Secret State Archives), the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (Ibero-American Institute), and the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung (State Institute for Music Research) with the Musikinstrumenten-Museum (Museum of Musical Instruments). Since German reunification, the collections that had previously been in the territory of the GDR also belong to the Foundation.

The Foundation’s structure reflects Germany’s cooperative federalism in the realm of culture. The federal government and all sixteen federal states have cooperated in this unique national Foundation since 1992. Representatives of the federal government and the federal states form the Foundation Board, the supreme decision-making organ of the Foundation.

The Foundation also has an Advisory Board. This is a committee of independent experts. It advises the Foundation and the President on technical and scientific matters.