2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

In addition to their extensive exhibition activities, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (SMB ) are also a research institution. The founding idea of collecting, researching, preserving and communicating the art and cultures of the world to everyone still forms the basis of its self-image today. Research projects that aim to scientifically catalogue, interpret and publish collection objects are the top priority. In addition to the archaeological, art-historical, cultural-historical and ethnological research activities of the museum staff and the scientific investigations carried out by Rathgen's own research laboratory, the expertise of scientists from Germany and abroad is also frequently called upon. Teaching assignments by scientists and conservators maintain the traditional link between museum and university. The art library, the largest specialised art library in Germany, also contributes to this. Lectures, colloquia and symposia are regularly organised as part of the museums' educational activities and numerous publications are issued. The Institute for Museum Research conducts systematic research to create the basis for museum education and visitor services to work in a scientifically sound manner. The State Museums' current participation in the Berlin Cluster of Excellence "Topoi" ("The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilisations") underlines their contribution to cutting-edge research in Germany.

The Berlin State Library (SBB) is the largest universal academic library in Germany. As a generally accessible research and information library with universal historical and current collections, it offers a wide range of services. By cataloguing specialist scientific literature and providing information media, it provides the basis for top international research and the national supply of literature. As part of the "Collection of German Prints" programme, for example, it is responsible for the acquisition of German printed publications from the years 1871-1913 and, as one of six institutions involved in the so-called "distributed national library", ensures that literature from this period is increasingly available without gaps. In addition, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is responsible for several special collections as part of the system of supra-regional literature supply funded by the German Research Foundation. It also pursues its own scholarly projects, particularly in the context of describing and cataloguing medieval manuscripts and more recent bequests. Like the National Museums in Berlin, the State Library is also involved in the Topoi Cluster of Excellence.

The Geheime Staatsarchiv PK(GStA PK) , as the main archive of the former (Brandenburg) Prussia and with a range of records from the 12th to the 20th century, is initially a service provider for academic research activities, like the large German and European central archives comparable to it. In addition, the archive successfully acts as an active research organisation, whose analysis work is reflected in the in-house publication series as well as in the numerous articles on Prussian historical topics that its employees present every year. Its active contact with research is also evident in the conferences that the archive organises with its cooperation partners. For example, the project to inventory the trial records of the Reichskammergericht in the GStA PK, which has been funded by the German Research Foundation since 1978, was concluded with an international, interdisciplinary conference in April 2008. Furthermore, the archive is currently running special, mostly third-party funded indexing and evaluation projects, of which the project on research into Prussian-German-Chinese relations between 1842 and 1911, which has been running since 2005 and will be concluded in 2008 with a workshop in Beijing and summarised in a volume of documents and essays, should be emphasised.

The Ibero-American Institute (IAI) is a unique combination of research, information and cultural centre, where scientists and academic librarians from a broad spectrum of social science and humanities disciplines work. Its two main areas of research are "Relations between Europe and Latin America in the past and present" and "Identity constructions in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula - strategies of demarcation and appropriation". In addition, academic activities and research are carried out on a range of other topics. The Institute has its own scholarship programme and works closely with research sponsors. A large number of visiting scholars from all over the world stay at the Institute each year. Many of them come to the Institute because it houses the largest European library specialising in Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal. Another advantage of the IAI is that it is a hub in a number of academic and cultural networks. It is in close contact with university and non-university institutions in Germany and abroad that work on Ibero-America. The Institute regularly organises international academic conferences as well as numerous other individual academic and cultural events in which these partners are involved. In addition, the IAI has a varied publication programme in German, Spanish, Portuguese and English with journals and book series.

The State Institute for Music Research (SIM) is a modern musicological research and documentation centre. Its Musical Instrument Museum is a prestigious, family-friendly museum with an attractive display collection, as well as a central research centre for instrumentology in Germany. At the centre of the institute's work are research projects that bring together instrumentological and historical-theoretical issues and initially communicate them to the specialist audience and a wider public in project events, before being published in the central multimedia publication series "Klang und Begriff". Numerous international scholars are involved in his "History of Music Theory", a renowned standard work that is scheduled to run to 15 volumes. The DFG-funded edition project "Briefwechsel der Wiener Schule", supported by the Arnold Schönberg Centre Vienna, is also worthy of special mention. With the international "Bibliography of Music Literature", which is freely accessible via the Internet, the Institute makes a comprehensive, up-to-date contribution to the supply of musicological literature, also within the "Virtual Library of Music" maintained by the Bavarian State Library in co-operation with the SIM and the Berlin State Library. Last but not least, the SIM is involved in the Cluster of Excellence "Languages of Emotion" as a co-operation partner of the Musicology Department of the Freie Universität Berlin.