Parzinger to save the Rieckhallen: A milestone for the home base of contemporary art
Press release from 09/23/2021
SPK President happy and grateful about agreement between the state of Berlin and CA Immo - Director of Hamburger Bahnhof: Great prospects for the museum of the 21st century
The state of Berlin intends to acquire the Rieckhallen at Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum der Gegenwart - Berlin. This is provided for in a memorandum of understanding that the state of Berlin has signed with CA Immo. CA Immo would like to facilitate this acquisition as part of a property swap of equal value. The existing lease agreement between the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and CA Immo will initially be extended by one year. This means that the imminent demolition is off the table.
The President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Hermann Parzinger, was delighted that the state of Berlin has succeeded in saving the Rieckhallen at Hamburger Bahnhof for contemporary art: "I am happy and grateful that the state of Berlin and CA Immo have preserved the Rieckhallen. We had never given up hope, and it shows that it is possible to realise a property swap and thus preserve a cultural location in the long term. This is a happy day for Hamburger Bahnhof because it is now clear that the entire site can be developed further and will remain attractive. Without the Rieckhallen, the Museum für Gegenwart would have lost half of its exhibition space and contemporary art would have lost its most important location in Berlin, its home base. I would like to thank the Governing Mayor, Culture Senator Lederer, Urban Development Senator Scheel and Finance Senator Kollatz on the one hand and CA Immo on the other for tying the knot."
The director of Hamburger Bahnhof, Gabriele Knapstein, believes that saving the Rieckhallen will secure the site's further development into the Nationalgalerie's 21st century museum: "The ensemble of buildings comprising the historic main building and the Rieckhallen, which are so well suited for large-scale works of contemporary art, is a unique exhibition venue for contemporary art in the centre of Berlin that is valued worldwide. In recent years, the Rieckhallen have proven to be an excellent venue for the presentation of large thematic and monographic exhibitions, and they offer artists generous and flexible spaces for new productions. Securing the Rieckhallen will open up great prospects for the Hamburger Bahnhof for the coming decades, and the museum will be sustainably strengthened in its mission to collect and preserve contemporary art for the future. I would like to sincerely thank all those who have worked to save the Rieckhallen."