Prussian Cultural Heritage Board of Trustees - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The Board of Trustees of the SPK brings together companies committed to culture to support selected projects of the foundation within the framework of a strategic partnership.

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Board of Trustees, which was established in 2014, is an association of leading German businesses. The board understands itself as being in a strategic partnership, supporting the Foundation in implementing selected projects. Along with activities connected to the Humboldt Forum, the focus is on communication, cultural education and transfer and digital transformation. Further, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Board of Trustees supports the Foundation’s effort to extend its network and also makes its thematic expertise available.

The following internationally active business organizations are currently members of the board: Bayer AG, Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Google Germany GmbH, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Siemens AG, Würth Group and ZDF. Chair of the Board of Trustees is Dr. Helen Müller; Head of Cultural Affairs and Corporate History Corporate Communications at Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA. The Vice Chairman is Prof. Stephan Frucht, Head of Cultural and Sponsorship Programs and Artistic Director of Siemens Arts Program at Siemens AG.

Strategic Support of Sustainable Projects

As a universal cultural institution, the SPK bears responsibility for its excellent collections, their preservation, research and, above all, mediation. This is where the Board of Trustees comes in with its support.

Access and Participation for Everyone

Whether in communication or digital transformation, in education and outreach projects, in outstanding special exhibitions or selected research projects – the Board of Trustees is always a valuable, stimulating partner for the SPK. The core goal of the funding is to support public access and participation.

The Board as the SPK’s supportive companion in change

The Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) sees the Board of Trustees above all as a partner who accompanies change and supports the SPK with content expertise from a business perspective.

The promotion of educational and outreach programs is particularly important to the Board of Trustees.  In recent years, for example, the program work at Haus Bastian has been supported with the project "Welcome to Museum Island! Welcome to Haus Bastian!" project, as well as the successful summer program "Connections," which has attracted numerous visitors to Museum Island in recent summers.

Thanks to the support of the Board of Trustees, the innovative event series "Design Lab" invited selected design studios, students and activists to work on current topics and projects and to enter into a discourse with the collection of the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts). Since 2021, the event series "Porcelain and Music" can also be experienced as a cooperation between the Kunstgewerbemuseum and the Musikinstrumentenmuseum (Museum of Musical Instruments).

A particular concern of the Board of Trustees is to support the Foundation's digital transformation. The large-scale, Foundation-wide data portal "SPK Lab," which went online at the beginning of 2023, could only be realized with the help of the Board of Trustees.

Projects from the area of communication, such as better marketing of the Gipsformerei (Replica Workshop) through an online store or even the SPK magazine, could also only be implemented thanks to the great support of the Board of Trustees. Likewise, the new web magazine was made possible by the Board of Trustees.

In addition, the Board of Trustees also supports selected research projects such as the provenance research project "Tanzania – Germany. Divided Object Histories?" as well as a recently launched provenance research project in cooperation with Cameroon.

The Board of Trustees is also committed to the Forschungscampus Dahlem (Dahlem Research Campus), supporting in particular the exhibition workshop "5 Things – 10 Views."

Exhibitions are also part of the corporate sponsorship portfolio: Without the Board of Trustees, it would not have been possible to have the room on the third floor of the Humboldt Forum dedicated to Chinese court art designed as a permanent installation by architect and Pritzker Prize winner Wang Shu.

The next special exhibition with curatorial support, "Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces" can be experienced at the Kunstgewerbemuseum at the Kulturforum starting March 24, 2023. The show "Archaeological Treasures from Uzbekistan. From Alexander the Great to the Kushan Empire" will be shown on Museumsinsel from May 2023 and will also be funded by the Board of Trustees.