Alte Nationalgalerie: Ralph Gleis Remains in Charge

News from 06/28/2022

Foundation Board decides that Ralph Gleis will stay on as director of the Alte Nationalgalerie

A man stands in an exhibition hall in front of three 19th century paintings
© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / David von Becker

Ralph Gleis will continue to serve as director of the Alte Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (National Museums in Berlin). He was confirmed in that position on Monday by the Stiftungsrat der Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Board of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), which is chaired by Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media Claudia Roth.

Gleis, 48, is an art historian by training. He was first appointed director in May 2017 and has since established a very successful track record. Gleis’s reappointment was the final step in the process of reorganizing the Nationalgalerie institutions. As previously announced, there will no longer be a single director for all of the museums but instead three independent directorates that will work closely together.

SPK President Hermann Parzinger comments: "The Nationalgalerie with its six — and in a few years seven — institutions is now very well positioned. Its new, decentralized management structure takes into account the growing importance of the individual institutions of the Nationalgalerie for art of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries and aims to strengthen them. Ralph Gleis, now confirmed as director of the Alte Nationalgalerie, is a museum professional with outstanding expertise in the art of the 19th century who has shown that by being socially relevant and addressing contemporary issues it is possible to reach a large and enthusiastic audience. He knows how to make the museum experience exciting. Under his direction, the Alte Nationalgalerie with the affiliated Friedrichswerdersche Kirche (Friedrichswerder Church) has become one of the most successful institutions of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin."

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