Yearbook of Prussian Cultural Heritage 2013 published
Press release from 01/09/2015
The 49th volume of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Yearbook, which looks back on 2013, was published at the turn of the year. Numerous articles illustrate the range of topics that concern the foundation.
Particularly interesting on the occasion of the current developments surrounding the Kulturforum: an opulently illustrated article that illustrates the political aspects of the building history of the State Library on Potsdamer Strasse in times of divided Berlin - a building history characterised by the "efforts of the free West to defy socialism". An intensive discussion about the location in Berlin in the early 1960s was followed by the decision in favour of the Kulturforum, which was forward-looking in terms of urban planning and at the same time a counter-image to the socialist state architecture of the GDR, the selection of Hans Scharoun also in recognition of an architect formerly ostracised as "degenerate", the tough years with construction delays and cost increases and finally the happy completion and opening of the building in 1978.
Art historian Martin Warnke provides an insight into the history of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums-Verein and the history of the painting "The Man with the Golden Helmet", which is linked to it. Purchased by Bode as a work by Rembrandt, it was an essential component and public symbol of a settlement in 1953, according to which the artworks of the association could return from Hesse to Berlin - ultimately also the basis for the return of all the museums' art treasures to Berlin three years later, which was won in court.
Other contributions include: Digitised auction catalogues as sources for provenance research. The current status of the plans for the Humboldt Forum and the trialling of new exhibition formats in the Humboldt Lab. The Rathgen Research Laboratory, which celebrated its 125th anniversary and today uses state-of-the-art methods to clarify a wide range of scientific questions about artworks and their preservation. The joint investigation of war losses with Russian museums.
Jahrbuch Preußischer Kulturbesitz, vol. XLIX / 2013, Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 2014; 520 pages with 160 illustrations, 110 of which are in colour; ISBN 978-3-7861-2725-3, ISSN 0342-0124; price: €35.00. Review copies are available from Gebr.