The Städel Museum in Frankfurt has opened a fundraising drive with a long-term goal of at least €100 million, money that would be held permanently rather than spent. Income generated by the fund is intended to pay for the museum's core work, including exhibitions, looking after the collection, research and education programmes. The institution describes the effort as the first comprehensive endowment campaign undertaken by a German art museum.

The campaign runs under the slogan that the Städel should remain itself, a reference to the museum's unusual history. It was founded on the bequest of Frankfurt banker and collector Johann Friedrich Städel, whose legacy in 1815 created an institution meant to preserve art and open it to the public without relying entirely on state support. More than two centuries later, that civic model still shapes the museum, which is sustained by broad public engagement alongside its friends' association.

Unlike appeals that raise money for a single building project or exhibition, the endowment is designed to be legally protected capital. Contributions become part of the assets of the nonprofit Städelsches Kunstinstitut and cannot be spent; only the returns may be used. The museum says this structure will give it a stable financial base for future generations, whatever the pressures on public cultural budgets.

Director Philipp Demandt has presented the campaign as the museum's major project for the future, linking it directly to the founder's vision of an independent museum supported by citizens. To give the appeal a public face, visitors took part in a photo shoot for a campaign video, and donations can be made online or at a column in the museum foyer. The museum is asking visitors, supporters and the wider Frankfurt community to contribute to a fund that will, in its words, keep the institution's future in its own hands.