Culture

National Museums in Berlin

Long-term cooperation for the promotion of art and culture
On 31 August 2011, the National Museums in Berlin and the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, represented by the Berliner Sparkasse, DekaBank and the Sparkasse Cultural Fund of the Deutsche Sparkassen- und Giroverband (German Savings Bank and Giro Association – DSGV), reached agreement on a comprehensive, long-term cooperation for the promotion of art and culture. The cooperation will initially run for three years and extends DekaBank's social involvement to include another outstanding cultural institution. DekaBank was previously involved with the National Museums in Berlin through the Old National Gallery, where “Der Watzmann”, one of the major works of Caspar David Friedrich, has been on display on long-term loan since 2004.

Museum Island - a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site since 1999
The National Museums in Berlin includes 15 collections, three research institutes and the Replica Workshop. Some of the flagship members of the National Museums in Berlin, such as the Pergamon Museum, Neues Museum and Old National Gallery, are located on Museum Island in Berlin, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe as main sponsor
As the main sponsor of the National Museums in Berlin, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe will provide support for outstanding exhibitions such as “Divided Heaven. 1945 – 1968” (beginning in the New National Gallery on 11 November 2011), and “100 Years of Nefertiti” (in the Neues Museum in 2012), as well as projects related to youth development.

Kunst privat! 2011

Tours through the DekaBank art collection
“Kunst privat! - Hessian Companies Present Their Art Collections” took place for the seventh time on 28 and 29 May 2011. The tour of the DekaBank collection of 21st century art was conducted by art expert Sophie von Olfers, curator of the “Portikus” exhibition hall for contemporary art in Frankfurt, and Valery Trosdorf. Sophie von Olfers, who knows many of the artists in the collection personally and has curated several exhibitions of their work, provided new, personal insights into the art world.

MMK 1991 – 2011
The MMK is celebrating its twentieth anniversary. One of the most important museums for contemporary art in the world, the MMK is currently presenting a large overview exhibition of its unique collection for the first time. Around 1000 works by 150 artists are on display simultaneously at a number of different locations from 19 June to 9 October 2011. In addition to MMK and the affiliated MMK Zollamt exhibition site, an additional 4,000 square metres of exhibition space have been made available in a former office building in the MainTor district on the banks of the Main River in Frankfurt. Support for this unique exhibition, ranging from pop art icons to recent contemporary works, was provided by the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe as major sponsor, DSGV's Sparkasse Cultural Fund, DekaBank and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen.

Long-term partnership
We have provided support to MMK as a partner under a unique sponsorship procedure since 2002. Under this procedure, companies provide EUR 40,000 in support each year over three years for developing the museum collection, with the City of Frankfurt am Main providing MMK with an equal amount. This partnership has already been extended for the fourth time, until 2013.

Rare viewing opportunity for the public
The Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK), one of the world's most important museums for contemporary art, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, the MMK is presenting a large overview exhibition of around 1000 of its works for the first time from 19 June to 9 October 2011.

Further Information
http://www.mmk-frankfurt.de/en/news/

Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin

Die The History of an Important Painting
Caspar David Friedrich's "The Watzmann", painted in 1824/25 in Dresden, is one of the most important landscape paintings of the Romantic period, and became part of the Berlin Nationalgalerie's holdings in 1937. In 2003 it was revealed that the original owner, who was Jewish, had been forced to sell the painting under pressure from the National Socialists. The Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), in accordance with its guiding principles, returned the painting to the original owner's heirs.

The "Watzmann" on the Berlin Museumsinsel
In 2004 DekaBank was able to reacquire "The Watzmann", securing for the future its central place in the room dedicated exclusively to the works of Caspar David Friedrich in the Alte Nationalgalerie on Berlin's Museumsinsel (Museum Island). The transfer of the loan took place in a ceremony attended by then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Unrivaled Variety
The Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) rank among the most distinguished museums in the world. A total of eleven museums, the Kunstfonds (Art Fund), the art library, as well as the Lipsius-Bau exhibition building on the Brühlsche Terrasse offer a range of art and art history whose thematic variety is without equal.

Our Support for Dresden
Along with four other Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe (Savings Banks Finance Group) institutions DekaBank has been an "Official Sponsor" of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden since 2006. The goal of the five-year partnership is to preserve the Collections' unique cultural heritage and increase public awareness of its extraordinary importance. In 2006, as part of this partnership, the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe supported the reopening of Dresden's Historisches Grünes Gewölbe (Historic Green Vault) after sixty years.

Further Information
www.skd-dresden.de