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TheAcademy of Arts (German:Akademie der Künste) is a state arts institution inBerlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support thestates of Germany.[1]
The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by ElectorFrederick III of Brandenburg as theBrandenburg Academy of Arts, anacademic institution in which members could meet and discuss and share ideas. The current Academy was founded on 1 October 1993 as the re-unification of formerly separateEast andWest Berlin academies.
The academy is an incorporated body of the public right under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany. New members are nominated by secret ballot of the general assembly, and appointed by the president with membership never to exceed 500.
The academy's recent presidents include:
Beginning in the 1690s, thePrussian Academy of Arts, under various names, served as anarts council andlearned society for the Prussian government. Founded by theHohenzollern elector Frederick III (King in Prussia from 1701), it was the third-oldest such academy in Europe. The institution was housed on No. 8Unter den Linden, until from 1902 the site was cleared and rebuilt as seat of theBerlin State Library. The academy then moved toPariser Platz next toHotel Adlon, where the Palais Arnim, former residence of Prime MinisterAdolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg, was refurbished according to plans designed byErnst von Ihne.
The academy also served as a training school since its founding, and created a number of affiliated schools. The first was theBauakademie for architectural training, founded in 1799. The academic arm was fully separated in 1931 and developed into the present-dayBerlin University of the Arts (Universität der Künste Berlin). In 1938 the academy building was seized by Hitler's chief architectAlbert Speer to evolve hisWelthauptstadt Germania plans; temporarily relocated to theKronprinzenpalais, the Prussian Academy ultimately ceased operations in 1945.
Inpostwar divided Germany, two parallel organizations took its place. The western successor organization was called theAkademie der Künste, founded in 1954 under PresidentHans Scharoun, which resided in the rebuiltHansaviertel quarter ofWest Berlin. The eastern successor organization was founded on 24 March 1950 as theDeutsche Akademie der Künste inEast Berlin, which became theAkademie der Künste der DDR in 1972, then theAkademie der Künste zu Berlin in 1990. Its presidents includedArnold Zweig,Ludwig Renn,Johannes R. Becher,Otto Nagel,Willi Bredel,Konrad Wolf,Manfred Wekwerth, andHeiner Müller.
The two were merged on 1 October 1993 into the present-day academy, which took its seat in a new building at the former location on Pariser Platz
The Otto Dix Foundation, created by artistOtto Dix’s widow Martha, entrusted his estate to the academy. It includes 4,000 index cards of his works, around 300 letters to the artist, catalogues and publications that include mention of exhibitions of his work and even his paintbox containing all his equipment. It opened to the public at the academy in 2024.[4]
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