700,000 euros for Berlin

700,000 euros for Berlin

Huge success: the second "We for Berlin" auction gala

700,000 euros for a good cause - that is the fantastic result of the second "Wir für Berlin" auction gala, which Verein Berliner Kaufleute und Industrieller (VBKI) organized together with Kunsthaus Lempertz on Friday, 12.10.2018.

300 invited guests outbid each other with 29 extraordinary lotsAmong the items up for auction were works by artists Katharina Grosse, Jorinde Voigt, Günther Uecker, Christian Awe and Peter Lindbergh, a culinary evening with star chef Markus Semmler in the Weberbank villa and a Mercedes-AMG GLC 43 4MATIC. Half of the proceeds will be used to support the VBKI's reading mentor project and half to support the Friends of the National Gallery. The VBKI action gala is under the patronage of the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller.

VBKI President Markus Voigt said during the event in the former departure hall of Tempelhof Airport: "Social commitment is part of our association's DNA. With our auction gala and all other charitable VBKI projects, we are pursuing one goal above all: to make our city even more lovable and liveable. And that can only be achieved together. That is why I would like to thank the many members and partners of the VBKI and, of course, the generous bidders who made this remarkable result possible."

Gabriele Quandt, Chairwoman of the Friends of the National Gallerysaid after the event: "What an exhilarating evening, what a gratifying result - how much civic engagement! We are very pleased, because with the reopening of the Neue Nationalgalerie in 2020, the FREUNDE already have many plans, whether it is to support the collection with purchases or to financially secure the exhibition planning. We would like to thank the VBKI and Kunsthaus Lempertz from the bottom of our hearts, not only for the great gift, but also for the friendly and inspiring cooperation in preparing this evening."

The Citizens' Network Education was launched in 2005. Since then, Berlin children and young people have received more than 2.5 million additional hours of support - thanks to the now 2,200 volunteer learning and reading mentors. The focus is on pupils in socially disadvantaged situations. The reading mentor project is particularly active in areas where the proportion of immigrants or the number of parents who are exempt from paying for learning materials is particularly high.

The Friends of the National Gallery have been supporting the work of the Nationalgalerie in Berlin since 1977. The aim of the Friends is to increase the scope for action of the Nationalgalerie and its six museums in times of scarce public funding. The now more than 1,400 members make a significant contribution to maintaining the Nationalgalerie as a lively, innovative institution that reflects the production of art from the 19th century to the present day in numerous exhibition projects and collection presentations and communicates this to a broad public.

The VBKI Auction Gala takes place every two years. At the premiere in 2016, a total of 280,000 euros was raised from the auction of 20 lotshalf of which went to the VBKI reading sponsors and half to the Orchestra Academy (now the Karajan Academy) of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

