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Contributions to the Städel Endowment Secure Core Funding / Visitors Give Their Face to the Museum's Endowment Message

As a Frankfurt landmark, the Städel Museum has, for more than two hundred years, been committed to preserving the freedom of art and making it accessible to everyone. Now the Städel is responsibly carrying its founder Johann Friedrich Städel’s vision—to create an independent and financially self-sufficient art museum—into the future. This year, the Städel has become the first German art museum to launch a comprehensive endowment campaign. The aim is to gradually increase the core capital of the non-profit foundation Städelsches Kunstinstitut, which is to be preserved in perpetuity, to at least 100 million euros. 

Under the guiding principle Städel remains Städel, everyone is now called upon to support the museum by making contributions to the endowment. All endowment contributions to the Städel Museum are legally inalienable. The Städel Endowment is intended to form the museum’s core funding in future. It will not be spent but rather preserved for future generations. However, the income will be used to finance all of the museum’s core tasks.

Contributions to the Städel Endowment can be made easily digitally via the dedicated campaign page (in German language) and through a donation column in the museum’s foyer. The endowment campaign highlights the special bond between the city’s community and the Städel: together with its friends’ association, the Städelscher Museums-Verein, the museum reaches out to the general public; to this day, the Städel is sustained by broad civic engagement. To give a human face to the endowment message, visitors to the Städel took part in a public photo shoot. In a campaign video, they vividly express what connects them to the museum and what it means to them. The result is an accessible and personal campaign that is visible both online and across the city.

Philipp Demandt, Director of the Städel Museum, on the public appeal: “The Städel Endowment is our major project for the future. More than 200 years ago, Johann Friedrich Städel, our museum’s founder, laid the foundation stone for a unique, independent museum with his legacy, sustained by civic engagement. We now wish to carry this legacy into the future together with the whole of the city’s community. To this day, we remain a charitable foundation, and our core assets, the Städel Endowment, are intended to safeguard the museum for future generations. Everyone is invited to contribute to the Endowment and help usher in a new era for the Städel Museum. On behalf of the entire Städel team, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all contributors! A big thank you goes to the Städelverein and to those visitors who are putting a face to our endowment message.”

You can find the full press release here as a PDF.