Internationally, says the outgoing manager Stefan Soltek (here in front of a tapestry woven by Karl-Heinz Diekmann in 1967), the Klingspormuseum is not a barge, but a tanker.
© Reinhold Gries
Stefan Soltek has achieved a lot since he started working in 2002 as director of the Klingspormuseum for book and script art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Not only did he bring world art to the Main, he also brought book and lettering congresses here. Like an ambassador, he promoted his city and his museum. At the end of November he will retire as director, but will remain a “freelancer”, at least for a year.
Offenbach – He and his team not only opened up his sometimes underrated house on Herrnstrasse to new art scenes, but also to urban society, appealing to all age groups and social classes. In retrospect, the lively mid-sixties is by no means dissatisfied: “I am very grateful to Offenbach, this liberal city with its transparent structures. I was allowed to do it here without overstraining expectations. This open, honest city and this museum were a stroke of luck after my time in Frankfurt at the Museum of Applied Art. “
He has benefited from three committed Lord Mayors: Gerhard Grandke initiated the expansion of the museum, Horst Schneider also supported him in every respect, and Felix Schwenke, who was particularly strained by the current difficult times, values Soltek as an attentive contact person for the concerns of his house.
The internationally experienced art historian with a doctorate also knows the other side of the coin: “Despite our wide range of offers, we still have too few visitors and users here.” Projects, exhibitions, workshops and events should arouse even more interest among city politicians, parishes and associations. But he doesn’t want to complain: “The time here was too exciting and stimulating for that.”
Joan Miró’s archaic figures can also be found in the holdings of the Klingspormuseum.
© Reinhold Gries
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For the native of Cologne, who previously knew very little about Offenbach, the city of Rudolf Koch and its culture became a matter of the heart. He by no means turns his back on this. He wants to work two days a week at Klingspor and also organize a series of lectures on the subject of “The book as reflected in the art of the 20th century”. He would also like to maintain and expand the company’s national and international contacts. And of course his successor, Dr. Support Dorothee Ader as much as possible from December 1st.
When his facility is presented as a “small museum”, he smiles and brings up the term “inner monumentality” and says: “There is still this misunderstanding that we are only a special museum for the initiated. That is true, but it fails to recognize our role. ”In terms of content, the clearly structured unit in the Büsingpalais is an art museum of great diversity and abundance. “In essence, we’re not really a launch but a tanker that sails in international waters,” says Stefan Soltek. Those who do not believe this should find out how well known the Klingspor has been in Asia and America for a long time.
The printing town of Offenbach and its museum play an outstanding role in the history of communication. Soltek knows this because he has traveled around the world as chairman of the graphic, printing and book art museums. That made it easier for him to bring top-class art from Pop Art, French Modernism or Asian art to Offenbach – in exhibitions and in the rich museum depot that is world-class. The fact that local citizens hardly know that is of course another matter.
What continues to concern Soltek is the intensification of contacts between art and politically insufficiently interested: “It must be possible for the citizens and representatives of this creative city with its friendly, casual mentality to close this beautiful house from the inside at least once a year see and take away stimulating impressions. Also for representatives of this creative city. This promotes identification and cohesion among all citizens. “
In this endeavor, Soltek feels extremely well supported by the association of “Friends of the Klingspormuseum”, but would like further civic engagement. With his museum he actually wants to be in the middle of society with all its problems. His credo is: “Offenbach offers many opportunities and possibilities as a creative space, but its citizens must also use them.” How right he is, this Rhinelander, who has visibly expanded the concept of art in this country to include the town hall and the Stadtwerke gallery. For our city and region, Dr. Stefan Soltek was a stroke of luck. (Reinhold Gries)
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