Georg Kolbe Museum

On Saturday, 1 February 2026, the German section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) presented the awards “Special Exhibition of the Year,” “Exhibition of the Year,” and “Museum of the Year” at its annual general meeting at the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

This year’s Museum of the Year 2025 award was bestowed on the Georg Kolbe Museum in Berlin.

The event on 5 July explored the history of the Dancers‘ Fountain in a discussion with Lichtenberg Professor of Provenance Studies Prof. Dr Lynn Rother (Leuphana University of Lüneburg), curator Dr Elisa Tamaschke and director Dr Kathleen Reinhardt. You can find the recording of the event on Youtube.

On 10 July 2020, the Board of Trustees of the Georg Kolbe Foundation, which is governed by private law, held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the recent debates on the Dancer’s Fountain and the associated accusations against the museum and its director.
The Georg Kolbe Museum is clearly committed to the Washington Principles in its actions.
Due to its provenance, the ‘Dancer’s Fountain’, created by Georg Kolbe in 1922 for the married couple Heinrich and Jenny Stahl, is Nazi-looted art, which has never been questioned.
It is thanks to the museum director, Dr Kathleen Reinhardt, and her outstanding scientific expertise that the history of the fountain has been re-explored and made accessible to the public.
The Board of Trustees continues to support the museum director, Dr Kathleen Reinhardt, in her efforts to bring about a fair and just negotiated solution with the heirs in this restitution case.

The Board of Trustees of the Georg Kolbe Foundation

The Dancers‘ Fountain in the sculpture garden of the Georg Kolbe Museum is at the center of an ongoing provenance procedure and an accompanying research project. The museum assumes that it is a cultural asset that was confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution. It is committed to the Washington Principles and is seeking a fair and equitable solution with the descendants of the original owner, Heinrich Stahl.

Heinrich Stahl, a Jewish entrepreneur who commissioned the fountain, was murdered in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942. The fountain was long considered lost and was reconstructed in the 1970s. The base of the sculpture shows Black figures supporting a white dancer – a colonially coded motif with an anti-Semitic object history. Since the 1980s, the Georg Kolbe Museum has been in contact with the descendants, who waived their claims in 2001, so the status at that time, but wanted a commemoration.

The Georg Kolbe Museum has completely modernized its lighting system: an energy-efficient lighting concept, a solar power system, and sustainable outdoor lighting showcase the artworks and architecture to their best advantage—while significantly reducing the museum’s ecological footprint.