2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Now that it has been decided who will build the Museum of the 20th Century at Berlin's Kulturforum, the collector couple Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch have decided to lift the reservations under which their collection was donated to the state of Berlin. In December 2010, Mr and Mrs Pietzsch signed a donation agreement with the state of Berlin for their internationally significant art collection. It is one of the most outstanding private collections of classical modern art. At its core are high-calibre works of Surrealism in Paris and Abstract Expressionism from the New York School, including works by Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Paul Delvaux and Jackson Pollock, Ad Reinhardt, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell and Barnett Newmann, as well as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera.

The donation comprises a total of around 150 paintings, drawings and sculptures with an estimated value of 120 million euros. It was subject to two conditions: that Berlin would hand over the collection to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation as a permanent loan and that the Foundation would guarantee a permanent presentation of parts of the collection in the context of its collection on classical modernism. Both reservations have now been removed and the donation has thus been unconditionally finalised.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, thanked Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch for this great gesture and the Minister of State for Culture for her initiative for the new building at the Kulturforum: "The condition of the donation was that sufficient space be created to allow the Pietzsch Collection to be permanently presented to the public together with the holdings of the Nationalgalerie. With the jury's decision in favour of the Museum of the 20th Century, this has now been fulfilled. The life's work of Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch will now be on display both in the Neue Nationalgalerie and in the new building. This step means a great deal to the Foundation. It is a day of joy and appreciation for the Nationalgalerie."

Minister of State Monika Grütters joins the many thanks: "We are deeply indebted to Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch. Through their generous donation, the collection of the Neue Nationalgalerie will be enriched by many high-calibre masterpieces, especially of classical modern art and abstract expressionism. Together with the two collectors Marx and Marzona, it was the Pietzsch couple who paved the way for the new museum of 20th century art with their donation in 2010. With the jury's decision in favour of the design by Herzog & de Meuron, it is now irrevocable: the Museum of the 20th Century in Berlin is coming. Berlin will be richer in art and building culture."

Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch said: "It has been a long and often difficult journey, which has hopefully led to a good end."

Foundation President Parzinger had invited guests to a ceremony at the Villa von der Heydt on Wednesday. Among others, Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters, Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller and State Secretary for Culture Tim Renner came to thank the collector couple once again in person.