2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and the Media and Chair of the SPK Foundation Council, said after the election: "I am delighted that we have found an excellent new President for the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Marion Ackermann at such an early stage! Through her very impressive work in the art and museum sector to date, she has shown how successfully she can lead and advance institutions. Marion Ackermann is an outstanding museum manager, art expert and strategist who has an excellent national and international network. She has already been very familiar with the SPK for several years through her membership of the foundation's advisory board. It was also important for her election that she has already proven that she can successfully organise major transformation processes. I am therefore confident that she will bring the comprehensive reform of the SPK to an excellent conclusion and lead the foundation into a successful and sustainable future with extraordinary expertise, new ideas and a great deal of energy. The fact that Marion Ackermann is the first woman to head the SPK is also an important sign. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Hermann Parzinger, who has led and developed the foundation in an outstanding manner for more than fifteen years."

Rainer Robra, Minister of State and Minister for Culture and Head of the State Chancellery of Saxony-Anhalt: "We are delighted to have gained a proven cultural manager in Marion Ackermann. She has experience in the West and East, is familiar with the cultural institutions in the federal and state governments and is ideally suited to vigorously implement the well-prepared reform process of the SPK. She will build on the new strategy developed by Prof. Parzinger, which is geared towards more partnership-based cooperation between the SPK and state institutions such as the Art Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt. As the current Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections, she brings with her a valuable external perspective and an understanding of federal work. This combination of outstanding leadership qualities and a deep understanding of art and culture makes her the ideal candidate for this prominent position. I am convinced that she will lead the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation into a successful future with new ideas and a clear vision."

Marion Ackermann, Director General of the Dresden State Art Collections and future President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, said: "What a pleasure and what a challenge to be able to lead the world-renowned Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation into the future. The extraordinary, universal character of the institutions gathered under one roof in Berlin offers a unique opportunity: to complete the reform process and let the Foundation shine internationally. This can only be achieved together, with passion, the will to create and in solidarity, as Schadow's group of princesses so clearly demonstrates. I have been associated with the Berlin art and culture scene and the Foundation's museums and institutes for many years; I am now looking forward to deepening these ties and significantly expanding the range of tasks once again - together with the Foundation's Board of Directors. In my eight wonderful and intensive years as Director General of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, I have learnt to lead this Saxon museum network with positive energy and a willingness to take risks, while also overcoming crises. Working in a museum means working with the means of art. And where better to do this than in Berlin? My new role fills me with humility and great expectation. It is particularly important to me to bring in the many different perspectives and experiences from my stations in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, as well as my international networks. So my journey through Germany is now taking me to the capital, to Berlin. And thus into the future!"

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation: "I am delighted that Marion Ackermann has been chosen as my successor. It is a demanding, but also wonderful office with enormous creative possibilities, especially now in a phase in which this unique network of the Foundation with its world-class museums, libraries, archives and research institutes will change profoundly and in which we must also ensure that we remain in a permanent process of renewal and questioning for the future in order to constantly release new
forces. Marion Ackermann is exactly the right person for this. As an internationally recognised colleague, she has the necessary experience, foresight and networks. I look forward to the coming months of increasing dialogue and closer collaboration until the change of office in 2025."

In December 2023, the SPK Board of Trustees appointed a search committee headed by the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, to find a successor to the President of the Foundation. The members of the search committee were representatives of the federal states of Hamburg, Brandenburg, Berlin and North Rhine-Westphalia. After intensive deliberations and a convincing personal presentation, the search committee unanimously decided in favour of Marion Ackermann as the future President of the SPK and today proposed this appointment to the Board of Trustees.

Marion Ackermann studied art history, German studies and history in Göttingen, Kassel, Vienna and Munich after graduating from high school. She completed her doctorate in Göttingen in 1995 with a thesis on Wassily Kandinsky's autobiographical and theoretical texts. In 2003, she took over the management of the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and, at the age of 38, was the youngest director of a major museum in Germany at the time. From 2009, she headed the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, one of Germany's most important art museums. Since 2016, she has been General Director
of the Dresden State Art Collections, a group of 15 museums and four institutes with over two million visitors a year.

In addition to her work as a curator and museum director, Marion Ackermann has held teaching positions at various universities and art academies. Marion Ackermann was Co-Chair of the Bizot Group for many years until 2023 and on the Executive Committee of the Goethe-Institut until 2024. She is active in the following bodies, among others: Jury Chair of the Kaiserrings Goslar; Academic Council of the National Gallery Prague; Supervisory Board of the KBB in Berlin; Foundation Advisory Board of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and Senate of the German National Foundation.

It is planned that Marion Ackermann will already be working for the SPK before taking office on 1 June 2025 in order to ensure a smooth transition of office with Hermann Parzinger.

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