Kuratorium Preußischer Kulturbesitz - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The Kuratorium Preussischer Kulturbesitz brings together companies committed to culture to support selected projects of the foundation as part of a strategic partnership.

Founded in 2014, the Kuratorium Preussischer Kulturbesitz is an association of culturally committed commercial enterprises. The aim of the Board of Trustees is to support the foundation in the realisation of selected projects as part of a strategic sponsoring partnership. The main focus here is on cultural education and mediation as well as digital transformation. The Board of Trustees also supports exhibitions, research projects and event series. The Board of Trustees also supports the foundation in expanding its networking activities and provides its expertise on the strategic development of various topics.

The following internationally active companies are currently members of the Board of Trustees: Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Siemens AG, Würth Group and ZDF. The Chair of the Board of Trustees is Dr Helen Müller, Head of Cultural Affairs and Corporate History Corporate Communications at Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA. The Deputy Chairman is Prof. Dr Stephan Frucht, Head of Cultural and Sponsoring Programmes and Artistic Director of the Siemens Arts Program at Siemens AG.

Strategic support for sustainable projects

As a universal cultural institution, the SPK bears responsibility for its excellent collections, their preservation, research and, above all, communication. This is where the Board of Trustees comes in with its support.

Access and participation for all

The core objective of this commitment is to support public access and participation. The Board of Trustees attaches particular importance to promoting educational and outreach programs. For example, the program work at Haus Bastian with the project “Welcome to Museum Island! Welcome to Haus Bastian!” and the successful summer program “Connections” were realized with the help of the Board of Trustees.

The Kuratorium Preußischer Kulturbesitz is currently supporting the 200th anniversary of Museum Island.

In addition, the members of the Board of Trustees have provided significant support for the “Forum Hamburger Bahnhof.” This area of the Hamburger Bahnhof is permanently accessible to the public free of charge. The “Forum Hamburger Bahnhof” not only addresses the history of the building, but is also intended to be a place of discussion that invites visitors to help shape new concepts for the museum.

Another important concern for the Board of Trustees is to advance the digital transformation of the foundation. The large-scale, foundation-wide data portal “SPK Lab”, which went online in 2023, could only be implemented with the help of the Board of Trustees. The web magazine was also made possible by the Board of Trustees.

Selected research projects are also funded by the Board of Trustees, for example on the subject of provenance research.

The Board of Trustees is also committed to the Dahlem Research Campus and supports the “DenkRaum” (Think Tank Space) subproject in particular. The magazine and the online publication entitled “In weiter Ferne so nah” (So far away, yet so close) complement the Board of Trustees' commitment to Dahlem as a research location.

Important exhibition projects are also part of the companies' funding portfolio: without the Board of Trustees, it would not have been possible to have the space on the third floor of the Humboldt Forum dedicated to Chinese court art designed as a permanent installation by architect and Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu.

In 2025, the Board of Trustees supported the special exhibition “The Bronzes from San Casciano dei Bagni. A Sensation from the Mud,” which was shown in the James Simon Gallery, as well as the exhibition “In the Crosshairs! Lovis Corinth, the National Gallery, and the ‘Degenerate Art’ Campaign,” which ran until January 2026 in the Old National Gallery.

Highlights of 2026 with support from the Board of Trustees include the exhibitions “Built Community. Göbeklitepe, Taş Tepeler, and Life 12,000 Years Ago,” which has been on display at the James Simon Gallery since the beginning of February, and “Cassirer and the Breakthrough of Impressionism,” which will be on display at the Alte Nationalgalerie starting in May.