An institution in the making such as the Zentrum Paul Klee requires three mainstays in order to achieve – and maintain – its stability. The Zentrum Paul Klee has those three mainstays. Specifically:

• The initiative of the Klee family, in particular that of Alexander Klee, grandson of Paul and Lily Klee, and Livia Klee-Meyer, daughter-in-law of the artist couple, with their offer of a donation and a permanent loan.
• The donation offers of land and funds from Prof. Dr Maurice E. Müller and Martha Müller-Lüthi, and in particular Prof. Müller’s visions.
• And finally the public sector’s community, namely the City of Bern, the Canton of Bern and the Civic Community of Bern as well as the 84 communities of Regional Cultural Conference of Bern.

In fact the Zentrum Paul Klee is perhaps the perfect showcase of what can be achieved if and when the private and the public sectors come together – and work together – in order to achieve a common objective.
 
Background
Since the mid-1990s there had been plans to build and operate a separate museum dedicated to Paul Klee in Bern using the collection of works from the Paul-Klee-Stiftung, the works donated by Livia Klee-Meyer, and the works loaned by Alexander Klee. It was a museum that we planned. A museum that would serve the exclusive purpose of communicating the pictorial work of Paul Klee. In other words a continuation of what the Bern Art Museum and the Paul-Klee-Stiftung had been doing with great success since the 1950s. Initially the museum’s was to have been located in the city centre of Bern, in the immediate vicinity of the Art Museum, yet Prof. Müller had other ideas in mind, namely to expand the original concept into a cultural centre on the eastern outskirts of Bern. Inspired by Paul Klee’s interdisciplinary activities as a painter, musician, teacher, writer, philosopher and didactician, Prof. Müller advocated not just to create an art museum but to pay tribute to the diversity of Paul Klee’s genius. It was Prof. Müller’s wife, Martha Müller-Lüthi, in particular who drew attention to the musical aspect of the Zentrum Paul Klee, a logical and consistent extension of her tradition of promoting young musicians that has spanned many decades. It is thanks to Martha Müller-Lüthi that today we are able to built a music hall that allows us to showcase not only the interwoven dynamics that exist between Paul Klee’s pictorial work but also the repertoire of music (ranging from baroque to romantic) which he himself enjoyed playing as well as the many compositions his works inspired during the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century. This opportunity affords the Zentrum Paul Klee an extra dimension of mediation; after all, music plays a key role in Paul Klee’s pictorial ideas.
 
The conceptual ideas
So the donations by the Klee family, the broad visions of Prof. Maurice E. Müller and his wife Martha Müller-Lüthi, and the active involvement of the public sector in Bern all provided the bedrock on which the conceptual ideas for the Zentrum Paul Klee were founded.
 
In a first step we intend to explore by means of a scientific approach Paul Klee's artistic, educational and theoretical work and its significance within the cultural and social context of his time. In doing so our prime objective is to make Paul Klee's work accessible to visitors to the Museum. This contemporary approach combined with new scientific interpretations and innovative methodological forms of presentation are to provide the medium to harness Paul Klee’s creative potential and channel it into today’s artistic and cultural environment. It is also our stated ambition to encourage sections of the population to visit the Zentrum Paul Klee who in the past might have given museums a wide berth. We want our visitors to find a new way into art and the work of Paul Klee in particular, so that the experiences they have encourage them to look more closely at the life and work of Paul Klee, and then return time and time again to the Zentrum Paul Klee. But that’s not all. We also aim to continue the tradition of research and mediation that has been carefully nurtured by the Paul-Klee-Stiftung since 1947, and to remain the world's centre of competence for research into and mediation of the life and work of Paul Klee and his influence.
 
Duty to educate
In a long-term approach the taxpayers of the Canton, Region and City of Bern will ensure the running of this cultural centre. It is our duty to repay this generous commitment by the public sector. The Zentrum Paul Klee intends to contribute substantially towards shaping the leisure activities and inspiring the lives not just of the people from the Canton, City and Region of Bern but also of those from throughout Switzerland and abroad. If we can encourage schools to return often to the works of Paul Klee, if we can enable adults from every stratum of the population and from all age groups to turn to art, if we are able to encourage and motivate people to develop their own creative activities, then we will have fulfilled our mission. We firmly believe that every cultural institution has an essential duty to educate, so that broad sections of the population are able to gain a deeper insight into cultural activities, and as a result contribute towards promoting a social and ethically rewarding attitude towards life in general.
 
On course
In her welcoming address you heard Ursina Barandun say that we would be delighted to welcome you again here more or less on the same day in one year's time for the opening media conference and a preview visit of the Zentrum. I'm well aware that that is a daring statement to make. The most difficult phase of the construction work and planning still lie ahead: The structure’s shell still has to be transformed into a user-friendly building, and a multitude of concepts need to be implemented as mediation and education programs. Nonetheless it is reassuring for me to be able to tell you today that we are on course with the construction work and the preparations for our concepts.
 
Of course the Zentrum Paul Klee will not be able to display all its potential energy on Day 1; nor do we want it to. We are however ambitious enough to want to offer an attractive contribution to the cultural and tourism scene in Bern and in Switzerland from the very outset.
 
The generosity of the City and Canton of Bern allows us to prepare our operations in terms of both content and human resources here, at our provisional location at Weltistrasse 40, in the immediate vicinity of our construction site.
 
A key player has been the Civic Community of Bern, which has helped to sustain the project from the very outset and, in creating the Paul Klee-Stiftung der Burgergemeinde Bern, has provided the instrument to support us financially also in the long term during special projects. In other words, through its considerable financial commitment it will make possible in the first place such special projects as publications, exhibitions, additions to the collection, etc.
 
One year before the scheduled opening
You can well imagine that, one year before the scheduled opening, we are no longer in the warm-up phase. Planning and realising a cultural centre of a scale as “modest” as that of the Zentrum Paul Klee requires a good deal of stamina. We certainly still have the stamina, even if in this particular marathon we’ve already reached a considerable cruising speed. And that is why I am utterly convinced that we shall succeed in opening on time and in the manner we intend.

(Every voiced opinion is valid.)