Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (SPK)

Established	1957 (to be dissolved by 2025)
Mission	Acquire and protect the cultural legacy of the former State of Prussia
President	Hermann Parzinger[1]
Staff	2000[2]
Budget	€137.8 million (2020)[3]
Address	Von-der-Heydt-Straße 16-18
Location	Berlin , Germany
Website	preussischer-kulturbesitz.de

The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (German: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of Berlin's State Museums, the Berlin State Library, the Prussian Privy State Archives and a variety of institutes and research centers. As such, it is one of the largest cultural organizations in the world,^[4] and also the largest cultural employer in Germany with around 2,000 staff as of 2020. More than four million people visited its museums in 2019.^[2]

The SPK was established in 1957 with the mission to acquire and preserve the cultural legacy of the former State of Prussia. Its current operations include the preservation and care of the museum collections and the continuation of academic and scientific research to encourage learning and understanding between different peoples.^[5]

In July 2020, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Monika Grütters announced that the SPK would be dissolved and converted into four independent foundations: State Museums, State Library, Secret State Archives and Ibero-American Institute.^[6] This followed recommendations by the Science Council that the SPK was too unwieldy in its current form. As a result, a reform commission has been set up consisting of representatives from the federal government, several German states, the SPK Presidium and museum directors to implement the dissolution by 2025.^[7]