More than a Museum: the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek
More than a million photos, twenty-thousand posters, fifteen-thousand drawings and thirteen-thousand film prints lie in the archives of the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek (SDK). Since 2000, a small but impressive number of these objects has been on view in Berlin’s New Center or, more accurately, in the Filmhaus at Potsdamer Platz. For national and international cineastes, the Museum für Film und Fernsehen has long been a household name. Though all other guests to the capital and, of course, Berliners themselves may also experience the fascination of a century of German film history in this transparent piece of architecture with its remarkable facade. To complement the Permanent Exhibition on Film, the Permanent Exhibition on Television opened its doors in 2006. It provides an entertaining overview of five decades of television history in East and West Germany – and so constitutes the only museum at present to combine both these media under one roof in Europe.
Responsible for the innovative Museum für Film und Fernsehen is the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek, which was first set up as a society in 1963 and then converted to its present legal form in 1971. For more than 40 years now it has collected, archived and restored everything related to film and television history – both for the public and experts. Thus the Filmhaus in the Sony Center is more than a museum: in addition to the two Permanent Exhibitions, it has numerous collections based on estates from stars, including Marlene Dietrich. Besides four floors of exhibits and footage from films, countless costumes, technical devices and historical documents, as well as Germany’s most significant collection of scripts, by such famous filmmakers as Fritz Lang and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, all come together here. Many of these items are accessible to the Museum’s visitors in temporary, monothematic special exhibitions conceived to augment the displays in the Permanent Exhibitions.
What’s more, films from the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek’s holdings may be taken out on loan for non-commercial purposes. A number of historic “treasures” may also be viewed in the basement of the Filmhaus: in the Kino Arsenal, which is run by the Friends of the Deutsche Kinemathek, a society founded in 1963. The SDK has also made a name for itself with countless publications, for instance, its “Film und Schrift” series. Some titles have even become standard works of reference on film and film history. Other activities include the film historical Retrospectives of the Berlin International Film Festival, for which the Kinemathek has been responsible since 1977. In addition, public congresses, conferences and seminars on topics related to film, television and media policies are held at the Filmhaus. One of the largest specialized libraries in Europe is also open to visitors of the Museum für Film und Fernsehen for research purposes.
Artistic Director: Dr. Rainer Rother
Administrative Director: Dr. Paul Klimpel
