New director for the Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts
Press release from 12/08/2009
At its meeting today, the Board of Trustees of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation unanimously appointed Dr Sabine Thümmler as the future Director of the Museum of Decorative Arts of the National Museums in Berlin. She will succeed Dr Angela Schönberger, who is retiring at the end of February 2010.
Thümmler has been director of the German Wallpaper Museum since 1991, which became part of the Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel in 1993. The doctor of art history and former costume designer has a wealth of experience in the conception and organisation of exhibitions and has published extensively. The 53-year-old sees one of her future tasks as emphasising the collection areas of the Berlin museum with the aim of increasing visitor numbers. In a city with numerous art, fashion and design academies, Thümmler sees a special role for the collection focussing on fashion and design. She hopes that future exhibitions will be integrated into an overall strategy for the museums at the Kulturforum and that academic co-operation with the other collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin will be strengthened.
The Berlin Museum of Decorative Arts is the oldest of its kind in Germany. It has one of the most important collections of European arts and crafts from the Middle Ages to the present day. At its two locations at the Kulturforum on Potsdamer Platz and in Köpenick Palace, the museum exhibits gold and silversmith work, glass, enamel and porcelain vessels as well as costumes and works of interior design. The museum's collection extends to the latest developments in industrial design and fashion.