2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The aim is to significantly improve the framework conditions for the protection of cultural property, to strengthen the development of young scientists and to expand national and international networks. Building on the leading role of conservation science in Germany before the Second World War, it is now important to lay a forward-looking foundation for the strengthening and further development of this branch of research. Recognising the national status quo is a first step in order to be able to determine the needs in a targeted manner. However, a prerequisite for strengthening the discipline is also to raise public and political awareness of the importance of this specialism.

The establishment of this alliance breaks new ground. For the first time, one of the world's largest collections of cultural artefacts and their scientific care (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), one of the leading user-oriented technological research institutions in Germany (Fraunhofer Society) and a unique cross-sectional scientific organisation (Leibniz Association) are cooperating.

Innovative restoration and conservation techniques are to be developed and cultural heritage better protected on the basis of the new co-operation.

Ancient documents, paintings by famous artists, medieval wooden sculptures, monuments - the significance of cultural assets goes far beyond their financial value. Preserving them is a major challenge. As the issues involved are often extremely complex, they call for solutions that involve not only technicians and restorers but also scientists from a wide range of disciplines (cultural studies, conservation science, natural sciences and humanities). The signatory institutions will pool their expertise in this field and improve the exchange of knowledge between research and restoration practice. The members of the research alliance will meet regularly in future to exchange experiences and update the research agenda. Together, they want to ensure that cultural assets have a sustainable future.

Topics include

• Development of non-destructive testing and inspection methods
• Decontamination of art and cultural artefacts contaminated with pesticides
• Ageing behaviour and durability of 20th century art and cultural heritage materials
• Further development of plasma technology for the cleaning and conservation of art and archive materials
• Further development of microscopic, surface topographic and multispectral authentication methods (illegal art trade, art forgery)
• Impact of climate change on cultural artefacts
• Development of concepts for climate technology and energy efficiency in museums and archives
• Development of modern procedures for the documentation and preservation of architectural monuments and archaeological sites.

The birth of scientific conservation was 120 years ago in Berlin: in 1888, the world's first chemical museum laboratory was established at the Royal Prussian Museums with Friedrich Rathgen as director. From the very beginning, the Rathgen research laboratory had a dualistic focus - on the conservation of both movable museum and archival heritage and immovable cultural heritage in Germany and worldwide.

The significance of the new alliance for the participating institutions lies in this in particular:

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation: "Our collections are part of our cultural memory. They make it possible to experience cultural creation from all parts of the world, from the beginnings of human history to the present day. The Foundation acts as a link between art and culture on the one hand and research and education on the other. The collections of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation alone contain a wide variety of materials and techniques that require numerous approaches to the preservation of cultural assets. With the establishment of the Alliance, German research in this field should regain a leading role in a global comparison."

Ernst Theodor Rietschel, President of the Leibniz Association: "The fact that the Leibniz Association's research museums will in future be part of the Ministry of Research is a significant recognition of the museums' research achievements. This ensures that heritage science will be focussed even more strongly on the federal level in the future. The Leibniz Association therefore also sees the research alliance as a mouthpiece that emphasises the importance of conservation research in politics and to the public."

Ulrich Buller, Chief Scientific Officer of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: "An important concern of the alliance is the next generation of researchers and training and further education, which the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft wants to promote with the alliance partners in the two recently founded competence centres in Kloster Weyarn and Kloster Bronnbach."

Examples of previous collaboration:

• the Rathgen Research Laboratory (SPK) carried out investigations with the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT, Oberhausen, in 2001-2004 on the decontamination of cultural artefacts contaminated with wood preservatives by extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide.
• The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research, Cultural Property Protection Group, Bronnbach, worked with the German Mining Museum Bochum of the Leibniz Association from 1996 to 2008 on methods for the preservation of technical cultural property and industrial monuments made of iron and steel.
• Since 2008, the Berlin State Library (SPK) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP), Potsdam-Golm, have been working together to stabilise newspaper pages that have been damaged by decay.

The partners of the research alliance:

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is the leading organisation for applied research in Europe. 15 Fraunhofer Institutes and the two newly founded Fraunhofer Competence Centres in Weyarn and Bronnbach are directly involved in the Alliance. They contribute their expertise primarily in the areas of innovation and technology transfer. Many institutes are already actively involved in projects in the cultural heritage sector and have developed specific solutions for them. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft offers a wide range of processes, materials and expertise to address the variety of issues: from the laser cleaning of precious object details to the decontamination of contaminated wood and the recording and optimisation of climatic conditions in museum spaces.

The Leibniz Association is an association of 82 research institutions that work on scientific issues of importance to society as a whole. It will be represented in the Alliance by its eight research museums. The Leibniz Association's research museums possess numerous cultural artefacts of national and international importance. The spectrum ranges from sculptures and paintings to large technical objects and biological material. To preserve the objects, they utilise and develop state-of-the-art restoration and conservation methods - partly in-house and partly with external partners.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation is one of the largest cultural institutions in the world: the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut and the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung belong to it. The organisational affiliation of these five institutions eliminates the usual separation of disciplines and materials and favours interdisciplinary projects and approaches. With the Rathgen Research Laboratory of the National Museums, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation also has the oldest conservation science institute in the world. As a natural science institute specialising in material analysis and the preservation of cultural-historical objects, it is the conservation science contact for the National Museums. Its expertise in all matters relating to the conservation and preservation of mobile and immobile art and cultural artefacts is also made available to international specialist committees.

Contact person:

For the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft:

Dr Johanna Leissner
Scientific Representative for Fraunhofer
IBP, IAP, ICT, IGB, IST, ISC & MOEZ
Rue du Commerce 31
B-1000 Bruxelles
Phone 0032 2 506 42 43
Fax. + 32 2 506 42 49
E-mail
Website

For the Leibniz Association:

Dr Stefan Brüggerhoff
Deputy Director Research
Head of Research Heritage Protection / Materials Science
Phone: +49 (234) 968 4032
Fax: +49 (234) 968 4040
Email
Deutsches Bergbau-Museum
Herner Straße 45
44787 Bochum
Website

For the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation:

Dr Stefan Simon
Director
Rathgen Research Laboratory
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Phone +49 (30) 3267490
Fax: +49 (30) 3267412
Email
Website

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