Interview with patron Sonja Ernst

“It’s nice to know that our foundation will still benefit generations that follow us. In particular those who we care about especially, namely the most vulnerable in our society – children and old people.”

Sonja Ernst, honorary chairman of the?Reinhard and Sonja Ernst Foundation

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The Museum Reinhard Ernst will open at Wilhelmstrasse 1 in Wiesbaden in about a year. The Reinhard & Sonja Ernst Foundation is responsible for this museum of abstract art. Who is the lady who gave her name to the foundation and works in the background? She agreed to this interview.

Sonja Ernst, let’s suppose we were having this conversation one afternoon in the new bistro at the Reinhard Ernst Museum, what would you order?

In the afternoon I would choose a good?coffee and a delicious slice of cake.

With the ground-breaking ceremony for the Reinhard?Ernst Museum, the focus has also been on your foundation. How did the Reinhard?&?Sonja Ernst-Foundation come about in 2004?

It was established as the result of?longstanding, joint deliberations that developed over the years. Even today, we?still amend the foundation?statutes if it becomes necessary. For example, we added?to the foundation’s purpose of “art and culture – museum?construction” only later when?we decided our foundation would build a?museum.

You have stated repeatedly that you have?had good fortune in life and would like to share this. How and where did your?ideas about?helping others arise?

Simply by keeping my eyes and ears open.?Ideas about helping don’t necessarily have to do with money or a foundation. I?think what is more?important is that when dealing with our fellow human beings?every day, “we don’t forget that we’re not alone in the world”. This?statement by my?husband’s grandmother has stayed with us throughout our lives.

You were born in Wiesbaden and with your?husband you are now giving your hometown a museum for abstract art. Why is your?name?not also included in the name of the museum?

I’ve often had to laugh about this issue?but I’m also happy to respond to you about it today. The affinity with art, the?collection and construction of?the museum comes from my husband. From the?start, I was convinced as to why he wished to do all this. He is still a?dedicated businessman.?What convinced me was that he wanted to introduce?children specially to abstract art, to unleash their creativity that our middle?class – the?greatest creative sector in our economy – also needs in future. I?also support wherever I can the fact that he combines this with his love for?non-figurative art.

I proposed to our foundation board, whose?honorary chairman I am, that the museum should be named after my husband. Consider?the museums?that have been privately established: St?del, von der Heydt,?Brandhorst, Burda, Sprengel, etc. They all bear the name of their creators.

Our foundation board resolved unanimously?to name our museum the Reinhard Ernst Museum. I was happy about this and still?am. I know that my?husband is already working on developing the MRE brand. He?is convinced that his name will remain but that over the years it will no?longer be?associated with the patron or the founder himself. Who thinks about?Mr St?del, when they go to the St?del Museum today?

Incidentally, who says another social?project would not be created that bears my name?

Supporting and educating needy children,?young people and older people around the world is a major aspect of your?foundation’s?purpose. Has there been anything in previous projects that?affected you particularly?

During the inauguration of our House of?Hope in Japan, we spoke a lot to old people but also children, who told us?about their suffering and fate?with tears in their eyes. That not only affected?us a lot but confirmed that we have done something right.

Do you have a favourite work in the?collection?

Yes – a brilliant yellow Emil Schumacher and?a wonderful work by Frankenthaler. Both are hanging in our home and?have to?go to the museum.?That will be a?sad moment.

How often do you visit the construction?site?

Every four weeks on a Sunday.

Thank you for the conversation – maybe the next time we meet it really will be with some good coffee and cake at the MRE Bistro.

The interviewer was Catherine S. Dallmer