After restoration work, Dresden has its old masters again: the picture gallery in the German city was reopened with a ceremony on Friday evening.
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The Alte Meister gallery is one of the most important museums of its kind in the world and had been renovated for around 50 million euros in the past seven years. In addition to 700 masterpieces of painting spanning several centuries, 420 sculptures are also shown. Stephan Koja from Vienna has been the director of the collection since 2016. The 57-year-old from Vienna now runs his institution fully for the first time.
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President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble gave a keynote speech on the importance of art for European thought. Museums are a European invention, they have been called the “quintessence of Europe”. Dresden is facing a European cultural heritage. Here is a place to encounter what connects European cultures with each other, “a place where you can become a bit of a European, here in Dresden, in the middle of Europe”.
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Marion Ackermann, General Director of the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD), had welcomed the guests to the ceremony in the Schauspielhaus. She recalled that in times of increasing polarization in society a large banner adorned the Sempergalerie for a long time, a banner with the inscription: “A house full of foreigners, the pride of the Free State”: “It was suspended because we thought the times would be better. ”But it just seems more necessary than ever to remember that these collections are a reflection of condensed European culture and have a historical connection.
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“Why do we really love the Old Masters and why do we need this art so directly for our lives? It is a choreography of the great existential themes of humanity, everything is included: love and beauty, the violence of nature, world battles and the deluge, the abyss and nightmare, the silence in death and the ode to life ” said Ackermann.
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“Art and culture are a unifying bond,” said Schäuble. “This is where the common roots of our diverse European cultures lie.” However, the common culture had not prevented Europeans from fighting each other for centuries. That is why, despite all the deficits and more or less justified criticism, the establishment of the European Union is a crucial step. In doing so, they have created an institution that enables civilized, peaceful settlement of conflicts and a political balance for the interests of the states.
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The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had spoken immediately before Schäuble. The Gemäldegalerie has many important works by Dutch painters. Rutte started with a quote from the Bavarian humorist Karl Valentin: “Art is beautiful, but it only makes work.” The Saxon Elector Augustus the Strong and his son made a considerable contribution to the development of a common European culture with their work, for exchange of ideas and a feeling of solidarity between Germany and the Netherlands: “The friendly relationship between Germany and the Netherlands is difficult to imagine without cultural exchange,” said the Prime Minister.
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There was an unusual concert at the Dresden Schauspielhaus on Friday evening for the reopening of the Gemäldegalerie, which was also broadcast live in the Zwinger: Actor and musician Christian Friedel (“Babylon Berlin”) set to music for his new album “How to hear a Painting” Volume Woods of Birnam around 20 well-known paintings by the Old Masters – from Rubens to Titian to Vermeer. Pop music and painting mingled in a multimedia live spectacle with video installations, speeches and orchestral passages. The reopening of the famous picture gallery is celebrated all weekend.
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