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Zilkens‘ News Blog 22 2025

Next Sunday is going to be an eventful day – Herrman Parzinger, head of the Stiftung preussischer Kulturbesitz (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation), is retiring and Marion Ackermann is taking over. The latter has done good work in both Düsseldorf and Dresden, also as a bridge builder between West and East. It will be interesting to see whether a different pace will be set in the juggernaut that is the foundation.

Taxes on art sales are not uniform in Europe. France has 5.5%, Germany, after a tough battle, has 7%, and Italy has 22%. The latter is set to change and will soon be reduced to 5%. This is a big step in the right direction. If the export regulations for art could now be made less bureaucratic and more European, the art trade in Italy could really take off.

Looking at other parts of the world can help us to better understand new developments or even to notice them in the first place. Stefan Kobel has just had an experience in Bucharest. Anyone who wants to can travel to Jakarta at the beginning of October, where Art Jakarta is taking place, or to Art Jakarta Papers from 6 to 8 February next year. The latter will be mainly dedicated to photography.

A glance at Singapore upon arrival shows that customs controls can be less martial and much more efficient than in most European countries. Anyone who refuses to use the internet and does not have an email address has a raw deal. The list of penalties that has kept the city-state very clean and tidy has been revised. Picking flowers now costs only 2,000 SGD, approx. 1,400 EUR – previously it was 5,000. Now spontaneous romantics of all genders have another chance. BYDs cost well over 100,000 SGD here and taxi drivers rave about Mercedes – but unfortunately they are unaffordable due to the price. Truism: those who do not adapt to global markets will not survive. - will be adapted. In many countries, there is hardly any social security that drives up taxes or increases labour costs. The argument that this ensures social peace is not accepted by those I spoke to – taxi drivers and other service providers. They fight for customers every day and have learned something else. Without a safety net, they have to – and family cohesion is part of that security. Systems work in many places.

What the Trump administration is doing to Harvard University is very reminiscent of the NSDAP's actions after 1933 with the Gleichschaltung (enforced conformity) of all areas of science. This led to the loss of the best and the brightest in Germany. The same could happen in the USA, although various self-imposed restrictions on freedom of research in Europe would have to be lifted – but the natural sciences only have a small lobby.

Next Monday, we will return with comments on art and world events from Germany.

The team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker in Cologne and Solothurn wishes you all the best for the week.