CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

Dagmar Hirschfelder to Become New Director of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin

Dr. Dagmar Hirschfelder has been appointed director of the Gemäldegalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Hirschfelder, a recognized specialist in northern alpine painting of the late medieval and early modern periods, is currently director of the Department of Paintings and Prints at the Kurpfälzisches Museum in Heidelberg. She succeeds Michael Eissenhauer, who in addition to his function as Director-General of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin has also been director of the Gemäldegalerie and the Skulpturensammlung since August 2016.

After completing her doctorate at the University of Bonn, Hirschfelder was employed at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, initally as a post-doctoral trainee, then as a research associate and project manager in the department of Paintings up to 1800 and Glass Painting. From 2005 to 2010, she was project coordinator at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, overseeing the redesign of the permanent exhibition on art and cultural history from 1500 to 1800. As of 2013, she led an interdisciplinary research project on the art historical and art-technological study of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum’s late medieval collections.

In 2017 Hirschfelder took up a position at the Kurpfälzisches Museum Heidelberg as head of the Department of Paintings and Prints. There she expanded the collections through significant acquisitions, advanced the modernization of the museum in the areas of digital outreach and the digital cataloguing of its holdings, and curated several successful exhibitions.

Looking ahead to her new role in Berlin, Hirschfelder said in a statement, “A particular interest of mine lies in the interdisciplinary, cross-genre collaboration with various SPK institutions.” In addition to her professional expertise and work in managerial positions, Hirschfelder’s broad international network and her sensitivities to audience orientation played a key role in the board’s decision.