The Gasteig mourns the loss of its former Managing Director Brigitte v. Welser, who passed away in early October 2024. Brigitte v. Welser steered the fortunes of Gasteig München GmbH from 1999 until early 2017.
She attached great importance to establishing the Gasteig as a cultural hub that appealed to all age and income groups. Curating a programme of diverse events in its halls and foyers, she made the arts centre accessible to a wide, enthusiastic audience. In 2006, Brigitte v. Welser established the Gasteig Cultural Foundation to further promote the arts and make them more accessible.
Brigitte v. Welser also pursued her desire to renovate the Gasteig to make it fit for the future. With a view of subjecting Europe’s largest arts centre to a general refurbishment, she had already initiated several refurbishment projects and drawn up a comprehensive user requirements specification for the “New Gasteig”.
Before her time as the Gasteig’s Managing Director, the trained music librarian was the head of Munich’s public music library and, for 18 years, in charge of Music, Theatre and Dance in the city’s Department of Arts and Culture. She was instrumental in founding two international festivals: the Munich Biennale for Contemporary Music Theatre, and the DANCE International Festival of Contemporary Dance.
