2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Reinhard Altenhöner has been appointed Permanent Deputy Director General of the Berlin State Library. He succeeds Karl-Werner Finger, who is retiring and played a decisive role in the development of the State Library's online catalogue and significantly expanded the library's services. Reinhard Altenhöner, born in 1963, comes from the German National Library (DNB), where he is a member of the Strategic Steering Team (Executive Board). He has been Head of the Information Infrastructure and Preservation Department since 2014. He played a key role in developing the DNB's strategy and concept, developed IT-supported services and excelled in format development, digitisation projects, indexing processes, long-term archiving and the development of provision systems. Altenhöner studied history, German studies, political science and Arabic studies in Bamberg and Göttingen and came to the DNB via positions in Cologne, Bielefeld, Münster and Mainz. The Berlin State Library expects his appointment to further expand the already successful fields of Digital Library and Strategy Development. Reinhard Altenhöner will take up his post on 1 October 2015.

The National Museums in Berlin's Picture Gallery, Sculpture Collection and Museum of Byzantine Art will be headed by Michael Eissenhauer from 1 August 2016. The Director General of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin will take on this position additionally and at his own request for an initial period of three years, succeeding Bernd Lindemann, who is retiring. This assignment is intended to further visibly and significantly strengthen the merger of the two unique collections of Old Masters. Eissenhauer wants to develop joint formats for exhibitions and research projects and also significantly intensify and expand the theme-orientated cooperation with other SMB collections. This applies in particular to the Kupferstichkabinett, one of the world's richest collections of drawings and prints. The opportunity to explore works across various artistic media more intensively is to be revitalised. Historically speaking, the dual office is not new: Wilhelm von Bode first took over in 1905 and Peter-Klaus Schuster was both "GD" and Director of the Nationalgalerie until 2008.

The contract with the Director of the Nationalgalerie, Udo Kittelmann, will be extended for a further five years until 31 October 2020. The Board of Trustees expressly praised his very successful work. He had fulfilled the expectations placed in him in every respect. Kittelmann, born in 1958, has been shaping the programme of the Alte and Neue Nationalgalerie, the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum der Gegenwart - Berlin, the Scharff-Gerstenberg Collection and the Museum Berggruen since November 2008. He has brought the collection back into the public eye as a supporting pillar of a museum. He has also been responsible for many nationally and internationally acclaimed exhibitions, most of which have been great public successes, and has enriched the collection of the Nationalgalerie through significant donations and acquisitions.

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