10.10.2014
Bode-Museum
On 1st October 2014, Bernd Kluge retired after 42 years of service at the Münzkabinett. He had been its director since 1992. His career encompassed the establishment of the Münzkabinett (Numismatic Collection) as a uniquely East Berlin museum, with no equivalent in the West, the complete refurbishment of the Bode-Museum and the Münzkabinett between 1998 and 2006, and the opening of new, permanent Münzkabinett exhibitions in the Bode-Museum (2006) and the Altes Museum (2011). Since 1995 he has been teaching as Honorary Professor of Numismatics at the Humboldt-Universität. (For a list of Bernd Kluge’s publications and a personal account of his twenty-two years as director, see Schriftenverzeichnis und persönliche Bilanz Bernd Kluges über seine 22 Direktorenjahre)
His departure coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Erivan und Helga Haub-Stiftung zur Förderung des Münzkabinetts. To mark the occasion, Erivan and Helga Haub presented the Münzkabinett with a hitherto unknown gold coin from Berlin, the oldest such coin to be marked with its year of origin. It was minted by Prince-Elector Joachim I (1499-1535) and is dated 1518. Not only is this a rare and important coin in terms of its numismatic value, it is also an important piece of evidence for the development of Berlin as the residence of the Hollenzollern Prince-Electors of Brandenburg (see Pressemitteilung).
Until the appointment of a new director, the Münzkabinett will be in the charge of its Assistant Director, Bernhard Weisser.