For us, promoting cultural activities is not a luxury, but an expression of our social commitment and an active way of creating quality of life. For this reason, we have been giving regular support to exhibitions and special events of international artists for many years.
The “König Lustik!? – Jérôme Bonaparte and the Model State Kingdom of Westphalia” exhibition in 2008 will showed significant loan items from international galleries and private collections in the first complete representation of the most important Napoleonic state on German soil. In South America, we promote cultural events and institutions, including the renowned Argentinean Chamber Music Institute, Fundación Música de Cámara, and the Ars Nobilis music foundation.
The Russian-German culture program has gone from strength to strength since cooperation with our partner, Gazprom, began in 1990. The close ties with Russia prompted us also to build cultural bridges with the aim of promoting mutual understanding of the cultural roots and traditions of both countries. More than a dozen well received cultural projects have been staged to date, including the “Catherine the Great” exhibition, which was organized in cooperation with Staatliche Museen Kassel in 1997.
The latest such initiative is the double exhibition entitled “Our Russians – Our Germans. Images of the Other Side 1800–2000” in Berlin and Moscow, a cooperation project between the German-Russian Museum in Berlin Karlshorst and the National Historical Museum in Moscow. The exhibition deals with the history of German- Russian stereotypes.
Another exemplary project is the reconstruction of the Church of the Dormition of the Holy Virgin. This church, built in Novgorod, south of St Petersburg, in 1352, was destroyed during the Second World War. The church, with its cross-vaulted dome, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in recognition of the importance of its frescoes. It has been restored on the initiative of the German Federal Government and with our support.
The Russian-German dialog of Wintershall and Gazprom has won an international award as a model for long-standing cultural and social cooperation. The judges praised the two energy companies for their work, which was a model of commitment to remembering the lessons of the past. This award shows once more the responsibility an international company such as ours has toward its fellow human beings. We gladly accept this responsibility anew every day.
