14 November 2018

25th Anniversary of a Unified Akademie
Reading and Discussion
Thursday, 22 November 2018, 7 pm, Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz

In Heiner Müller's view, it was "not a love marriage, but a marriage of convenience": Twentyfive years ago, the artists' associations in the two parts of Germany united as one German Akademie der Künste. The State Treaty on the Academy of the Arts, supported by Berlin and Brandenburg, was signed on 20 September 1993. What seems only natural from today's point of view was the result of a heated conflict both within and outside the artists' society. A twoyear academy dispute grew into an ideological substitute debate about reunification. Walter Jens and Heiner Müller, the institutions' two presidents, significantly contributed to the eventual success of the merger, because despite their different intentions, they held firmly to the objective of creating an independent, internationally oriented Akademie der Künste and found a self-determined path in which artists from East and West came together.
In contrast the fusion of the two archives, East and West, went rather smoothly, albeit not without losses. By autumn of 1990 the directors of the archives had developed a concept for unified German art archives that was also largely implemented. Today, the archive is a renowned modern art archive that encompasses all branches of art and, with its multidisciplinary concept, enjoys a unique selling point. The special anniversary gives the Akademie an occasion to look back at these events. Katharina Wackernagel and Charly Hübner read texts from the unification process. In a panel discussion, Katharina Thalbach, Christoph Hein, Jürgen Becker, Ulrich Roloff- Momin and Klaus Staeck address developments within the Akademie over the past 25 years. Questions that were discussed then and now play a role here: What are the tasks of an academy, and how can its internationality be shaped? What experiences do members from East and West bring to the joint academy? The radio journalist Alfred Eichhorn, who accompanied the unification process himself, moderates the discussion.

Event Information
25th Anniversary of a Unified Akademie
Reading and Discussion
Welcome Jeanine Meerapfel, President of the Akademie der Künste, and Werner Heegewaldt, Director of the Archives
With Jürgen Becker, Christoph Hein, Charly Hübner, Ulrich Roloff-Momin, Klaus Staeck, Katharina Thalbach, Katharina Wackernagel, Moderation Alfred Eichhorn
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Thursday, 22 November 2018, 7 pm, free admission
Press Tickets: Tel. +49 (0)30 20057-1514 or presse@adk.de