Municipal vote Davos rejects investment contribution for Kirchner Museum

Davos voters have rejected an investment contribution of CHF 4 million for an extension to the Kirchner Museum with 55.6 percent voting against. The background to the planned expansion is the permanent loan of the high-caliber Ulmberg private collection.

In order to be able to present the Ulmberg Collection to the public in Davos, an extension to the existing museum building was unavoidable, the museum said at the end of August. The Kirchner Museum, designed by the architect duo Gigon/Guyer and built in 1992, is an "internationally renowned architectural icon" according to its own assessment.

The two architects therefore drew up a detailed study for an extension. They envisaged an exhibition space of 167 square meters, two depots, an event room and a café.

According to the feasibility study, the total costs of the project amounted to 11.5 million Swiss francs. The Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Foundation, private sponsors and the World Economic Forum would contribute a total of seven million francs to the construction costs. However, the municipality's four million franc contribution has now been canceled following Sunday's no vote. The turnout was 48.36 percent.

One of the most important collections in Europe

The Ulmberg collection is one of the most important in Europe, according to the municipality's message. It comes from the entrepreneur Uwe Holy, who has built up a remarkable collection of works of modern and contemporary art over many years.

Now it should have been made fully accessible to the public for the first time in the Kirchner Museum. A permanent loan of 100 works was planned, including numerous large-format paintings.

The collection includes works by artists who were closely associated with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and the Expressionist movement, such as Max Beckmann, Emil Nolde and Lyonel Feininger. However, important contemporary works and concrete art are also represented.

SDA