2008 - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Werner Spies (left) in discussion with Niklas Maak,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
2 between ten different languages when using an audioguide.
Now a very special linguistic gift has been presented to
visitors: it is now possible to experience a tour of the Historisches
Grünes Gewölbe in Saxon dialect. Uwe Steimle,
an actor, caberet performer and a full-blooded Saxon, agreed
to take part in this project. He has expertly translated all
the important information about the Historisches Grünes
Gewölbe into finest Saxon and produced a recording – which
of course also includes his personal explanations.
museums create a new international audience
On 28th May 2008 the initiators of the “Humanism in
China” exhibition, Prof. Dr. Peter-Klaus Schuster, Director-
General of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Prof. Dr. Reinhold
Baumstark, Director-General of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen,
Munich, Udo Kittelmann, Director
of the Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, and
Prof. Dr. Martin Roth discussed in the Lipsiusbau how museums
can create a new international audience. Also
present were Chen Ping, Deputy Director, West European
Division in the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Michael
Schindhelm, Director for Culture, Dubai Culture and Arts
Authority. It is planned to collaborate with the Dubai Culture
and Arts Authority in the Dubai Universal Museums
project. The event was moderated by Stefan Koldehoff and
broadcast on the radio station Deutschlandfunk.
Werner spies presents his life’s work
On 4th December 2008 an interview took place with the
art historian and man of letters Werner Spies. In discussion
with Niklas Maak, art editor for the supplement of the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he presented a collection
Discussion about a new international audience
for museums
The Directors of the 50 most important graphic
collections in the world were hosted by the
Kupferstich-Kabinett
of his writings on art and literature entitled “Auge und
Wort. Gesammelte Schriften zu Kunst und Literatur” in the
Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau.
50th anniversary of the return of Dresden’s art treasures
To mark the anniversary of the return of many works of art
that had been taken to the Soviet Union after the Second
World War and were given back to Dresden between 1956
and 1958, exhibitions were held in 2008 in Kiev and St.
Petersburg (see page 34). In Dresden this anniversary was
marked by a documentary exhibition entitled “Das Grüne
Gewölbe kehrt zurück” (The Grünes Gewölbe Returns) in
the foyer of the Neues Grünes Gewölbe and by the “Kunst-
Transfers” conference (page 58). The return of the art
opened a new chapter in the long and mostly illustrious
history of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Although
tens of thousands of treasures from the Dresden
museums are still missing – many probably being irretrievably
lost or still hidden away in the successor states to the
Soviet Union – the predominant sentiments are gratitude
for and joy about the events of 50 years ago.
kupferstich-kabinett awarded the title of museum
of the year 2008
“The Saxons again!” remarked the newspaper Berliner
Zeitung in amazement when the Kupferstich-Kabinett was
awarded the title Museum of the Year 2008 by the international
association of art critics, AICA. The word “again”
referred to the fact that the Saxons had shortly before
been announced the top German federal state in the PISA
educational rankings. However, this word could also have
referred to the Kupferstich-Kabinett itself, since it had been