Detail page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Since the summer of last year, a lively and controversial debate has developed among the public, experts and the media regarding the reorganisation of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation's museum landscape. In order to gain clarity about the scope, timeframe and costs of the options under consideration for housing the collections in question (Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie and Skulpturensammlung), in autumn 2012 the Foundation commissioned the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning to carry out a comprehensive study of options, the results of which are now available.

The SPK's evaluation of the study shows that the simultaneous investment in an appropriate presentation of 20th century art at the Kulturforum and in bringing together the Old Masters' paintings and sculptures on and around the Museum Island is not financially feasible. For this reason, Foundation President Hermann Parzinger and Director General Michael Eissenhauer, in consultation with both the Chairman of the Foundation Council, Minister of State for Culture Bernd Neumann, and the collection directors involved, are proposing the following step for the further development of the museum landscape: A new building is to be erected in the immediate vicinity of the Mies van der Rohe building at the Kulturforum in order to create urgently needed space for 20th century art in the interplay between the two museums. This can then be presented comprehensively and permanently for the first time - including works from the Pietzsch Collection and the Marx Collection. The Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart - Berlin can then once again devote itself to contemporary art. The works of post-war modernism previously exhibited there will finally find an appropriate location in the collection context of the National Gallery at the Kulturforum.

The site earmarked for the new building is located between the Neue Nationalgalerie and the IBA residential buildings on Sigismundstraße. It is owned in equal parts by the Foundation and the State of Berlin and is designated for cultural use in the urban planning concept. The new building, which is to be constructed in a modified form compared to the variant study with a total usable area of 9,900 square metres, is estimated to cost just under 130 million euros.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, says: "This step represents the solution to one of our most pressing problems. We are creating space for the magnificent diversity of 20th century art. At the same time, this represents a huge opportunity for the Kulturforum. The collections in combination with the architecture of Mies van der Rohe and Hans Scharoun will create a compendium of modernism."

Michael Eissenhauer, Director General of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, explains: "This new building at the Kulturforum will make it possible to experience modern art in the context of almost all classical European visual arts from the early modern period to the 20th century." He continues: "It will be a stroke of luck for the Nationalgalerie's collection if its top works of the 20th century can finally be shown in an appropriate way."

In addition to a planned new building for 20th-century art, the new presentation of sculpture and paintings by the Old Masters also remains on the agenda. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the National Museums in Berlin continue to see the integral presentation of both art genres as a path to a modern and lively exhibition concept. They take the objections raised in the discussion about the Foundation's reorganisation plans last year seriously. They are countering the scepticism by testing the exhibition concept step by step. The dialogue between the genres is to be made more visible than before in the Bode Museum.

Foundation President Parzinger will propose the construction of a new building for 20th century art at the Kulturforum in Sigismundstraße - in addition to the Neue Nationalgalerie - to the Board of Trustees at its next meeting, which is scheduled to take place in December 2013.

• On the future of Berlin's museum landscape. Positioning of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and its National Museums in Berlin, taking into account the results of the study of variants (PDF, 1.1 MB)
• Study of variants. Site planning of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz (PDF, 6.2 MB, not barrier-free)
• Variant analysis - Annex 1, Part 1 (PDF, 7.5 MB, not barrier-free)
• Variant analysis - Annex 1, Part 2 (PDF, 7.5 MB, not barrier-free)
• Variant analysis - Annex 1, Part 3 (PDF, 5.9 MB, not barrier-free)
• Variant analysis - Annex 2 (PDF, 5.8 MB, not barrier-free)
• Press photos