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The Kaiser Friedrich Museumsverein Celebrates Its 125th Anniversary

03.01.2022
Gemäldegalerie

The Kaiser Friedrich Museumsverein was founded in 1897, making it one of the oldest circles of friends of any public art museum in Europe. It is now celebrating its 125th anniversary.

The Kaiser Friedrich Museumsverein was brought into being by Wilhelm von Bode, one of the most important German art historians and museum curators of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the course of its 125-year existence, the association has been able to acquire almost 300 high-profile paintings and sculptures by old masters. This has included exceptional pieces whose purchase would no longer be feasible today. The association has thus complemented and expanded the holdings of two world-class museums: the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin’s Gemäldegalerie at the Kulturforum and the Bode Museum’s Skulpturensammlung.

To commemorate the 125th anniversary of the association’s founding, in 2022, 12 of these outstanding acquisitions will be highlighted in the permanent exhibitions of the Gemäldegalerie and the Bode-Museum and made visible as such to visitors. What’s more, all of the association’s works on display in the permanent exhibition will receive additional labelling.

This is intended to pay tribute to the special patronage of the association and its members and to make their involvement more transparent in the context of the individual collections. The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin would like to thank the Kaiser Friedrich Museumsverein for its constant, exemplary work, and is delighted to have the support of the oldest circle of friends in Germany.