25 Years of the F.C. Gundlach Foundation

2025 will be a year of celebration – not only for the Roman Catholic Church, but also for the F.C. Gundlach Foundation. Twenty-five years ago, F.C. Gundlach established the foundation with the explicit goal of promoting photography as a cultural asset. This is reason enough to take stock, offer a glimpse into the future, and above all, thank you and all our supporters for your appreciation of our work.

Photo: Esther Haase

The past 25 years have impressively demonstrated what it means to promote photography as a cultural asset: internationally successful exhibitions from the work and collection of F.C. Gundlach have been curated, significant archives acquired, processed, and exhibited, and a vibrant exchange with countless photographers has been cultivated in the spirit of F.C. Gundlach. In this way, the foundation preserves the virtues of its founder to this day and organically brings together the diverse facets of the medium of photography.

We are also adhering to this principle in the projects planned for our anniversary year. These include the current exhibitions "Germany around 1980" at the Altona Museum and Dirk Reinartz: No beautiful country… at f³ – freiraum für fotografie in Berlin. We are especially looking forward to the Photo Talk We will be discussing Dirk Reinartz's photobooks with publisher Gerhard Steidl on January 22nd at f³. We are also pleased to announce two new exhibitions: "F.C. Gundlach Photographs MARIS" at the Museum Tuch + Technik Neumünster, featuring a wealth of previously unpublished images, opening on March 27th, and "Film Stars and Fashion," showcasing iconic works by Gundlach, opening on September 18th at the Kunstverein Elmshorn. In parallel, we are already working diligently towards 2026, the centenary of F.C. Gundlach's founding.

Photo: F.C. Gundlach

All these projects would be inconceivable if F.C. Gundlach hadn't decided to establish the foundation in 2000. Our deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to them. But we would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the advisors, partners, and all those who have shown interest. We look forward to many more years of collecting, preserving, and presenting!