Deutsche Bank closes the PalaisPopulaire: Berlin loses an art address on Unter den Linden

It may come as a shock to the audience that an important exhibition venue is giving up. But Deutsche Bank is communicating its step as an expansion in a different direction: from now on, young artists will be given more support and they want to strengthen cooperation with partner institutions, as Britta Färber, the Frankfurt DB head of art and culture, explains the decision in an interview with the Tagesspiegel.

The really big time was with the Guggenheim

During its era as an art player in the city, Deutsche Bank used the 750 square meter exhibition space for a total of eight years and maintained the restaurant on the ground floor. However, in the low rooms she rarely found the great presentations with which she had previously made a name for herself in the equally lavishly decorated rooms in the main building on Unter den Linden. Particularly during the years of cooperation with New York’s Guggenheim Museum between 1997 and 2012, when the art gallery operated under the name Deutsche Guggenheim, the bank showed spectacular exhibitions by James Rosenquist, Jeff Koons and Helen Frankenthaler.

On the PalaisPopulaire’s footprint, although it had been expanded by a third, the presentations from 2018 onwards appeared rather small and often crowded. Here the bank primarily showed its own collection from various aspects. An exception was the great show by the British video artist Isaac Julian, which came about through a collaboration with the collector Heiner Wemhöner.

The “Artist of the Year” exhibitions were always a special feature. The PalaisPopulaire closes its doors with the Slovakian Lucia Tallová, who has been named by the two directors of the Hamburger Bahnhof, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, for 2026/27. The exhibition is announced on the website from September 10th to January 4th, 2027.

From November 19th to 22nd there will be a big farewell festival with all Berlin cooperation partners, “to celebrate what was successful at the PalaisPopulaire,” says Britta Färber. From now on, the bank’s collection, which includes 2,000 works in Berlin alone, will be able to be experienced in various locations and, as it is said, “open up to a broader audience.”

The surprising announcement that Deutsche Bank is withdrawing from Berlin with the PalaisPopulaire is also likely to be a signal to the landlord Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Axel Springer Verlag. The contract expires normally. Döpfner now has great expectations about what will happen next at the prominent address. For many Berliners as well as tourists, the question also arises as to whether the quality of spending time on the terrace and the culinary options are maintained in the stone center of the city.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank wants to launch a new excellence program to support young artists from Berlin in professionalizing themselves and to promote the local scene, according to the announcement. The “In conversation with” discussion series at Hamburger Bahnhof will also be retained, where items from the company collection will continue to be available on loan. The collaboration with the Philharmonic, for example in the Education Program, which has existed since 1989, remains untouched, as does the composers’ fellowship at the American Academy.

DB spokesman Klaus Winker explained the innovations in the art sector primarily with greater flexibility, more freedom and, yes, also costs. The “Berlin colleagues” met on the upper floor of the PalaisPopulaire for internal events, including board meetings. The trip to art is therefore cancelled.