Zilkens' News Blog

Zilkens' News Blog 11 2026

Elections were held in Baden-Württemberg. This is the region that advertises itself as being capable of anything except speaking the national language. For over 15 years, the Greens have provided the Minister-President in this industrial heartland, with the CDU acting as junior partner. If you follow the debates on television and compare them with the figures, you might be surprised: the AfD, which is considered by everyone else to be anti-democratic, gained almost 9% more votes than in the last election, with a turnout of over 70%, and thus had the largest increase of all – but no one really wants to talk about it. The previous ruling party lost around 2.3% of the vote, but is being celebrated as the big winner, while the CDU, which gained around 5.6% of the vote and is now on a par with the Greens, is being portrayed as the big loser. That leaves the Social Democrats, who just managed to clear the 5% hurdle – not exactly a glorious achievement – and the swan song of the Freedom Party, which was joined by a large chorus in its heartland. Does everyone just want to be regulated and bossed around?

Last week was pretty devastating for cultural preservation because new sources of conflict have arisen. Iran, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait... In all these countries, there are museums and places that document their respective cultural identities or open up new worlds. They are all under threat and mostly defenceless against attacks. Just as the museums in Ukraine are at the mercy of Russian attacks. The protection of cultural property has not yet been systematically developed. There are only a few protective bunkers and, as a rule, no plan for what to do in the event of an attack. Now the museums are closed, tourists are hoping for flights home, and things seem to be normalising somewhat between the drones. You wouldn't want to fly through that either. Insurers only offer limited coverage for war risks at exorbitant prices. Few are willing to spend that much, especially since, in the event of a total loss, they would only receive money to buy something comparable somewhere on the world market. Works of art are unique – and one Leonardo is not nearly as good as another...

Incidentally, this also applies to landmarks such as Cologne Cathedral. Its maintenance is largely ensured by the Cathedral Building Association, which is supported by the citizens of Cologne. The church and the city also contribute, but to a much lesser extent. The city administration is virtually bankrupt and has to cope with the staff increases made over the last eight years, while the Catholic Church is losing believers because it refuses to modernise its message and is otherwise only mediocre in its management. Everything that the city administration is responsible for maintaining crumbles sooner or later because maintenance is not its thing – it would rather have a few more cycle lanes in central locations and empty, extra-long trams that no one needs. Now, tourists who only want to visit the cathedral and not pray will have to pay an entrance fee. Perhaps 5 EUR? Westminster Abbey costs 30 GBP! If only 5,000 of the more than 10,000 visitors paid the small fee, that would add up to a good 9,000,000 EUR per year – enough to maintain the cathedral for a long time and show tourists the way to the city.

A few years ago, I noticed the Patriot missile launchers stationed at Jeddah airport. This is where pilgrims land for the Hajj to Mecca. It was inconceivable to me that 19th-century defence strategies were still being considered in the 21st century. At least, that's how it seemed to me – now we are being taught otherwise by Iran's indiscriminate attacks.

Last week's auctions in London are said to have gone well – ARCO was probably not bad either. From Thursday onwards, the art world will gather in Maastricht to admire the treasures of TEFAF – including those that have been temporarily imported from outside the EU. Hopefully, art transporters will take care of the professional handling without penalty. Assets worth approximately €4 billion are likely to be gathered at the MECC – compare that to the assets of a large manufacturing company such as Bayer or Volkswagen. There, the concentration of value is more dispersed.

A few weeks later, the Venice Biennale opens and one wonders where the outcry is: the president of the Biennale wants Russia to once again use the Russian pavilion, which has stood in the Giardini since 1912 and has been closed since 2022. His ancestors may have performed in the circus – Buttafuoco means spitter of fire! He speaks of a ‘diplomacy of beauty’ – and that corresponds to a rather backward-looking concept of art, because art critics prefer to grapple with unwieldy works that somehow move you – but if something is only beautiful, it could easily be hollow, and then the work has failed. War is not beautiful, and active combat against the population of a country certainly isn't. Russia at the Biennale is currently not acceptable at all – and in Germany, the firespitter would probably already have been relieved of his office.

Let us hope that the situation in the Middle East stabilises and that people will soon be able to travel safely again.

We wish everyone a thoughtful start to the week, at the end of which we hope that some things will be clearer.

Stephan Zilkens and the team at Zilkens Fine Art Insurance Broker GmbH in Solothurn and Cologne