Speech by Minister of State Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, at the opening of the West Wing of the Humboldt Forum

It is not very often that castles in the air take on a solid form, are built on a firm foundation, and then open their doors to visitors. But that is exactly what we are celebrating today. The genius behind this castle in the air isKlaus-Dieter Lehmann, and I remember very well the first time he presented his bold vision for a dialogue of equals among world cultures here in the heart of Berlin. It was the year 2000, at an event held at theMax Liebermann House by theStiftung Brandenburger Tor, a foundation for which I served as chair at the time. I was simply electrified by his idea, his visionary proposal to bring the collections of the Ethnological Museum and the Asian Art Museum from the leafy environs ofDahlem to centre stage in Mitte, to engage in dialogue with the European culture on display over on Museum Island. To create this space for world cultures here, just as the Humboldt brothers might have imagined - that was a cultural policy vision worth working for, passionately fighting for and persistently arguing for.

And that is exactly what we - I see many of my fellow advocates here today - did over the past 20 years. Many people helped to turn this "castle in the air" into reality in the Berlin Palace. I would like to thank above all the founding directors, Neil MacGregor,Hermann ParzingerandHorst Bredekamp, who broughtKlaus-Dieter Lehmann's brilliant vision to life with their shared passion for exhibitions and art collections which point far beyond national horizons and speak of world history. Do you, Neil MacGregor, still remember the time I visited you in London and told you about this vision which I found so captivating? "Please let us make this noble project happen," you said. Ten years later, I was delighted when you agreed to serve on the team of founding directors. I am also grateful to the many members of the GermanBundestag who supported this cultural undertaking, the most significant one of its kind in reunified Germany, with their counsel and actions. I would also like to thank the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning and the federal state of Berlin for the excellent cooperation - and everyone who did such tremendous work, especially theStiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss and the architectFranco Stella and his team. Thanks are also due not least to the staff of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the museum directors and curators of the collections who for years have taken such good care of the objects entrusted to them and prepared them for us, their audience, here - sometimes accompanied by a storm of media debate.

A hundred thousand visitors in the first 40 days after its opening, the exhibitions filled to 97 per cent capacity despite COVID-19 restrictions - that is a more than auspicious beginning that you, ProfessorDorgerloh, and your team have made possible. Thank you for all your efforts! And I would like to thank you, Mrvon Boddien, once again: you and theFörderverein Berliner Schloss, with some 45,000 donors, played a key role in the rebuilding of the Berlin Palace by raising more than 100 million euros for this project. In this context, the art dealer and collectorKlaus Friedrich Naumann also deserves to be mentioned: after the Asian Art Museum suffered serious losses to its collection in the Second World War, his invaluable contribution restored the museum to the first ranks of Asian art institutions. Without his collection, the Humboldt Forum today would lack many important pieces.

Starting tomorrow, visitors to the Asian Art Museum and the Ethnological Museum will be able to experience - free of charge - a cultural and historical panorama extending from the collections on Museum Island. Taken together, these collections will enable visitors to see and understand the world in a new way. Here, everyone can become a citizen of the world, true to the vision of the Humboldt brothers.

What that means was expressed by the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, who was born in London, grew up in Ghana, teaches in the United States and also advised the Humboldt Forum as a member of its highly distinguished council of international experts. In his book "Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers", he wrote that cosmopolitans believe that the vocabularies of all cultures overlap enough to start a conversation, and that cosmopolitans believe it is possible to learn even from others who disagree with them. Being able to see what unites us as human beings despite our cultural differences, engaging with those who are different rather than shunning and denigrating them, learning in a dialogue with difference: the Humboldt brothers were pioneering advocates of this, and today, their legacy is more contemporary and forward-looking than ever, because difference is a fundamental experience in a globalised world. In multicultural cities like Berlin, we experience difference every day. We see it everywhere we go, in the real world and on the internet, in interactions with people who live differently, believe differently and think differently from us. If the Humboldt Forum enables visitors to "start a conversation" or even arrive at understanding, then it will have achieved a great deal in these times when worlds collide and more walls are built than bridges.

Making understanding possible: that is a significant promise and an enormous task for the future of this institution. With its exhibitions and events, it can provide a stage for the earth-shaking issues and debates of our time. It can be an arena for a democratic culture of argument where different world views clash, or even an invitation to remain in dialogue with each other across barriers and borders. But one thing is clear: if the hope of understanding is to be more than wishful thinking, more than just a castle in the air, then the Humboldt Forum must ultimately set standards for sensitivity, honesty and transparency in dealing with collections from colonial contexts.

I hope that this institution, which is open to all, will foster a dialogue of cultures as well as a culture of dialogue, and in so doing will increase awareness, as Kwame Anthony Appiah has put it, of what we as humans share in a world of strangers. I wish you, ProfessorDorgerloh, and your team many good ideas, a willingness to experiment, success in working with partners all over the world, and the necessary quantum of boldness to act on the legacy of the Humboldt brothers in the age of globalisation. But most of all, I wish you many visitors who are willing to imagine themselves as world travellers and to take part in a dialogue of cultures and a culture of dialogue.

Please find the German version here.

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