YOUNG FRIENDS

The young circle of friends goes by the entrepreneur and passionate art collector Dr. Hans-Hermann Stober, called Männe Stober, returned. After Männe Stober died far too early in 1997 at the age of 62, the club decided to name the club's junior circle in memory of Männe Stober's outstanding commitment. From then on, the young FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie were called “Stoberkreis”. The Stoberkreis was a real pioneer back then and the first young section of a museum support association in Germany.

In 1977, Männe Stober was one of the seven founding members of the Friends of the National Gallery. He was passionately committed to the youth in the club and was strongly committed to young artistic positions. “Fighting for the young wild ones, the young art in general” – this is what Jan Rave noted about the namesake of the Stoberkreis in the club’s chronicle.

In 2024 we decided to drop the name “Stoberkreis”. The Stoberkreis is now called young FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie. On the one hand, we have created a self-explanatory name. We have often used this name when “Stoberkreis” has led to questioning looks. On the other hand, we also conceptually express the inseparable connection with our FRIENDS.

This is how we continue what began in 1997. Männe Stober wrote our unchanged main concern into our records with timeless validity when he stated: “I know for a fact that I would have been enthusiastic [about art] even as a teenager if I had met the right people.”

Felix von Boehm and Charlotte Paulus are FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie and the two voices of our podcast “Kunstpause”. A new issue of Kunstpause appears every month on all common platforms. At the beginning of every art break, we always talk to guests from the museum world, the art scene or artists about a work from the Nationalgalerie collection, which was acquired by the FRIENDS of the Nationalgalerie and which each of our podcast guests chooses themselves.