Around 300 guests from the worlds of politics, culture and academia attended the annual reception hosted by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation on Museum Island. The focus was on the key priorities for 2026 – ranging from major anniversaries to digital innovations.
For President Marion Ackermann, this was her first annual reception as host. She looked back on a successful 2025, which attracted 3.6 million visitors, and outlined key projects for 2026.
The digitisation of the Gemäldegalerie’s collection is a key focus of the 2026 programme year. In collaboration with Google Arts & Culture, over 1,100 works have been digitised in high resolution and made available online – a milestone in this long-standing partnership.
As a bridge between Germany and Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal, the Ibero-American Institute will continue to expand its international networks in 2026. Research consortia, fellowship programmes and conferences will address current global challenges and strengthen the Institute’s role as a hub for transnational dialogue.
Artificial intelligence also features prominently in the 2026 programme: through the ‘Audio to Text’ project, the State Library is using AI-supported processes to automatically catalogue and make accessible its audiovisual collections.
2026 marks a number of significant anniversaries: the Hamburger Bahnhof is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and the Alte Nationalgalerie its 150th. The programme will feature numerous special exhibitions and international collaborations.
With exhibitions such as ‘Brancusi’, ‘Genghis Khan and the World of the Mongols’ and ‘World of Colours – 100 Years of Verner Panton’, 2026 spans the spectrum from the classical to the contemporary.
The annual reception marks the start of an ambitious programme year – and also serves as a forum for discussion and networking.
