Marion Ackermann appointed first woman to lead Berlin State Museums
The current director general of the Dresden State Museums, Marion Ackermann, has been appointed the president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK). She will be the first woman to hold the position at the organisation, which oversees Berlin’s state museums.
SPK is the largest cultural employer in Germany, with around 2,000 employees and more than 4 million objects across 15 museums in Berlin, in addition to libraries, research institutes, and archives.
The changes at SPK go deeper than simply getting a new president – an independent study in 2020 called for a “major overhaul” of the as “dysfunctional” and “structurally overwhelmed” organisation.
This overhaul will be managed by Ackermann, who will take over from current president Hermann Parzinger, slated to retire at the end of May 2025 after 17 years in the position.
“Marion Ackermann is an excellent museums manager, art expert and strategist who is extremely well-connected both nationally and internationally,” German Culture Minister Claudia Roth said in a statement.
Beyond her time at Dresden State Museums, Ackermann’s previous experience includes becoming the youngest director of a major museum when in 2003 she took over management of the Stuttgart Art Museum at the age of 38. She has also served as director of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf and is jury chairman of the Kaiserring Goslar art prize.
