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. For example, the program work at Haus Bastian was supported with the project "Welcome to Museum Island! Welcome to Haus Bastian!" as well as the successful "Connections" summer program.

Thanks to the support of the Kuratorium, the innovative event series "Design Lab" invited selected design studios, students, and activists* to work on current socially relevant topics and to enter into a discourse with the collection of the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts).

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. The new web magazine was also made possible by the Board of Trustees.

Selected research projects are also funded by the Board of Trustees, for example on the topic of provenance research.

The Board of Trustees is also committed to the Forschungscampus Dahlem (Dahlem Research Campus) and supports in particular the exhibition and communication workshop "5 Things - 10 Views".

Furthermore, exhibition projects are part of their funding 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 show "Archaeological Treasures from Uzbekistan. From Alexander the Great to the Kushan Empire" is also supported by the Board of Trustees and will be shown on Museumsinsel Berlin (Museum Island Berlin) until January 2024.

In addition, the members of the Board of Trustees are committed to the "Forum Hamburger Bahnhof." This area of the Hamburger Bahnhof, which has been redesigned since June 2023, will be permanently open to the public free of charge. The "Forum Hamburger Bahnhof" not only picks up on the history of the building, but is above all intended to be a place of assembly, debate, and transformation that invites visitors to help think up new concepts for the museum.