Opening of the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection
Press release from 07/10/2008
A new highlight enriches Berlin's cultural life: the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection, which is being shown under the name "Surreal Worlds" in the eastern Stüler Building opposite the Museum Berggruen and Charlottenburg Palace. The "Dieter Scharf Collection in Memory of Otto Gerstenberg Foundation" has entrusted around 250 paintings, sculptures and works on paper to the Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin as an initial ten-year permanent loan, placing them in the care of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The Museumsquartier Charlottenburg thus continues to distinguish itself as a centre of classical modernism, especially French-influenced art, and gains a completely new quality.
Following the relocation of Nefertiti and the Egyptian Museum with Papyrus Collection to the Museum Island in 2005, the eastern Stüler Building was remodelled to house the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection. With a stringent architectural design, the architects Sunder-Plassmann have created a hinge point that visually connects the building with the Museum Berggruen opposite (in the Stülerbau West) and the Bröhan Museum. The new pavilion-like extension opens up the building to Schloßstrasse. A café and bookshop provide a contemporary infrastructure alongside the ticket office and information area. The café at the new entrance courtyard creates an inviting, attractive place to linger and, thanks to its central location, is also aimed at visitors to the Berggruen and Bröhan museums opposite, as well as the neighbouring cast collection and local history museum. Like all building investments by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the construction costs of around 10 million euros were borne by the federal government.
The Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection, with its focus on fantastic and surreal art, spans a broad spectrum from Piranesi to Goya, Max Klinger, Paul Klee, Max Ernst, Wols and Dubuffet. It has its roots in the passion for art of Otto Gerstenberg, of whose extensive collection only a few works remained in Germany after the Second World War. Some of these found their way into the collection of his grandson Dieter Scharf, which is now presented as the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection. This collection has found an ideal place of presentation opposite the Museum Berggruen: both are an independent cosmos of art, each characterised by outstanding collector personalities, and they complement each other perfectly. In addition, they both demonstrate how happy the combination of private collection and public institution can be. The French character of the Charlottenburg Museum Quarter is also emphasised by the collection of 18th century French paintings of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation, which is housed in Charlottenburg Palace, opposite the two Stüler buildings.
Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, explains: "The Charlottenburg museum site now has a clear profile. I am delighted to be able to open this building today in the presence of Minister of State Bernd Neumann and the Scharf family. The suggestive power and richness of associations of the works will captivate visitors and the museum, like the Museum Berggruen, will develop a great radiance."