With the holding of the architectural competition for the new Gutenberg Museum, a big step forward was made this year on the way to a Gutenberg Museum of the future. A promising winning design has been submitted, which was unanimously chosen by the jury and which also inspires us.
Dr Ulf Sölter, the new director of the Gutenberg Museum, has very consciously chosen the mammoth task of a world museum in transition. He impresses with a convincing strategic approach and excellent communication. The first visible result of the good cooperation with the sponsoring organisations Gutenberg Foundation and Gutenberg Society was the Gutenberg's new trade fair appearance at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Meanwhile, at the Gutenberg Museum, preparations are underway for the museum's move at the end of next year. The storage of the exhibition is being prepared and the interim exhibition in the Natural History Museum is being curated.
There have been numerous opportunities for personal encounters for the Gutenberg Circle of Friends this year, for example with the Jour Fixe appointments at the Kulturei. Appearances at the Johannisfest, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Mainz Book Fair and other events brought conversations with many interested people about the Gutenberg Museum and its future.
The curator's tour of the special exhibition "Road to Nowhere – Prints by Tobias Gellscheid" at the Gutenberg Museum offered a first chance to get to know Dr Ulf Sölter and curator Dr Anett Göthe on behalf of the Gutenberg Circle of Friends. The programme of events came to a pleasant end in December with "mulled wine and printing" in the Gutenberg Museum's print shop. During the evening, Marianne Grosse, Head of the Department of Building and Culture in Mainz, gave a detailed report on the architectural competition and explained in detail the advantages of the winning design.
This is an exciting time for all "Gutenbergers", as it is not just about laying the foundation stone of a new building, but of a whole new museum. We look forward to continuing to accompany this important process in the coming year.