SPK invites Prime Minister to the James-Simon-Galerie
Press release from 03/21/2019
Parzinger thanks for decades of commitment: "We are cultural federalism in action"
On Thursday, the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Hermann Parzinger, invited the Minister Presidents of the German federal states to a tour of the new James Simon Gallery on Berlin's Museum Island, which will be officially opened this summer. His invitation was accepted by the heads of government Daniel Günther (Schleswig-Holstein), Tobias Hans (Saarland), Reiner Haseloff (Saxony-Anhalt), Michael Kretschmer (Saxony), Armin Laschet (North Rhine-Westphalia), Bodo Ramelow (Thuringia), Manuela Schwesig (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Peter Tschentscher (Hamburg) and the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller. The heads of the state and senate chancelleries of the aforementioned states as well as those of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg and Hesse also attended. Together with architects David Chipperfield and Alexander Schwarz, Parzinger gave the state representatives a tour of the new reception building on Museum Island.
The Foundation President said: "Your visit is an expression of appreciation for the SPK and for what is being created in the historic centre of Berlin. Even though the federal government is financing the lion's share, we are living cultural federalism."
After the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation was established, only the federal states of Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein initially agreed to finance the foundation alongside the federal government. From 1975, the other federal states also became involved. The first "Agreement on the Joint Financing of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation" between the federal government and the then eleven federal states was therefore a milestone in the history of the Foundation. It placed its work on a solid financial footing and finally made it a nationwide institution. After German reunification, the five new federal states also joined the funding agreement on 1 January 1992. After a transitional phase and lengthy negotiations, a new financing agreement was signed in 1996. This "Agreement on the Joint Financing of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation" is still in force today.
Parzinger continued: "The Foundation is supported by everyone and is therefore there for everyone. Thanks to its federal structure, the SPK is ideally suited to take on national tasks." The President cited the German Digital Library as an example, which networks the digital offerings of German museums, libraries, archives and research institutes and creates free access to cultural and scientific heritage. He also mentioned the Coordination Centre for the Preservation of Written Cultural Heritage and the Institute for Museum Research as a nationwide research and documentation institution for various aspects of the museum system.
The SPK President announced that the Foundation intends to continue its federal programme, in which museums from the federal states can take over exhibitions that have already been curated and mounted. As part of this programme, the exhibition "Sigrid Neubert. Photographs. Architecture and Nature" from the Museum of Photography at Gut Altenkamp Papenburg in Lower Saxony. In addition, the SPK museums are always happy to host exhibitions from other federal states. Last year, Saxony presented the exhibition "Görlitz - Resurrection of a Monument" at the Art Library of the National Museums in Berlin, while Saxony-Anhalt hosted the show "Beautiful Mind: A Jewel for Cranach" at the Museum of Decorative Arts in 2016.