Generous support for the Museum Berggruen: Berggruen family to donate one million euros a year from 2025 onward
News from 09/10/2021
The Museum Berggruen of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, part of the SPK, will significantly expand its program work, to which end it will be granted greater autonomy. To this end, the Berggruen family will support the museum with one million euros annually after renovation work is completed, probably in 2025.
The Museum Berggruen of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin), which is part of the SPK, will significantly expand its program work, to which end it will be granted greater autonomy. With its former curator Gabriel Montua as director, there are to be additional exhibitions, accompanying programs, and closer cooperation with museums and collectors in Germany and other countries in order to offer new, attractive events and activities for visitors. To make this possible, the Berggruen family will support the museum to the tune of one million euros annually after the completion of renovation work, scheduled for 2025. This was agreed with the SPK by the family, represented by Nicolas and Olivier Berggruen, after talks with the chairperson of the Foundation Board, Minister of State Monika Grütters, and the president of the SPK, Hermann Parzinger. The use of the funds provided by the Berggruen family will be decided by a committee consisting of representatives of the family, of the SPK and of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. This strengthens the cooperation between the Berggruen family and the SPK that was begun by art collector Heinz Berggruen.
SPK President Hermann Parzinger said: "The Foundation and the Nationalgalerie have maintained a close and very special relationship with the Berggruen family for years. The Museum Berggruen has gained a very special profile within the Nationalgalerie. This is all the more impressive because it means that the name again belongs to a city from which Heinz Berggruen was once obliged to flee. I am delighted that, together with his family, we can strengthen and develop the museum – and thus our Charlottenburg site as a whole. I would like to thank Nicolas and Olivier Berggruen very much for this commitment, which in these times cannot be taken for granted at all. Heinz Berggruen's legacy thus lives on in a wonderful way, in the next generation, which is both a joy and an honor for us."