The DIC Group is one of the leading investors in the German market for commercial real estate

Press Release

On the 260th anniversary of Goethe's birth:
it's Goethe Day on Mondays too: property investor DIC makes it possible

Frankfurt, 27.08.2009

The Frankfurt-based real estate company DIC (Deutsche Immobilien Chancen), in partnership with a private individual from Frankfurt, a member of the Friends of the Goethe House group, has undertaken to pay the cost of opening Goethe's birthplace on Mondays for the next two years. This will continue to make the Goethe House, which receives over 100,000 visitors a year, the only museum in Frankfurt to welcome visitors from all over the world also on Mondays, thereby staying open seven days a week. For cost reasons, the managers of the building were recently considering shorter opening hours, but the sponsorship deal with the DIC has prevented this.  

Petra Roth (Mayoress of Frankfurt), Prof. Dr. Anne Bohnenkamp-Renken (Director of the Goethe House) and Ulrich Höller (Chairman of the Board of the DIC Group) are today announcing this special cultural sponsorship deal to the general public. It coincides with the forthcoming celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the Freies Deutsches Hochstift, one of the oldest German cultural institutions and sponsor of the Goethe House in Frankfurt. This anniversary falls on 28 August, the 260th anniversary of the birth of Germany's most famous writer, who was born in Frankfurt and spent his childhood in this house up to the age of 16, writing "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" (The Sorrows of Young Werther) here, among other works.

In Frankfurt, where the company has its registered offices, DIC is contributing more and more to the development of a modern city, both through constructive preservation projects and innovative reshaping of significant elements of Frankfurt's cityscape. For example, in the recent past, DIC has renovated the building housing the new Frankfurt Central Library, and modernised and expanded the traditional "Bienenkorbhaus" (Beehive Building) on the Zeil boulevard. They are currently working on the development of the "Main Tor - Im Puls von Frankfurt" project near the Goethe House: in the area between the Weißfrauenstraße and Neuer Mainzer Straße, 2010 will see the creation of a new urban district on the former Degussa site. Providing access to the public once again, the site will feature offices and residential buildings and is designed to also breathe new life into neighbouring areas of the city.

DIC CEO Ulrich Höller: "The name Goethe is synonymous with German culture and German heritage and is an integral part of the profile of our city of Frankfurt. That's why, year after year, over 100,000 visitors from Germany and abroad come to visit the Goethe House. We should - especially in the current climate - ensure that the Goethe House is open for visitors to Frankfurt every day of the week. A seven-day week at the Goethe House is an essential part of Frankfurt's cultural attractions. It is what is expected if we are to maintain our reputation as a welcoming, cosmopolitan metropolis. And when public funds are short, private enterprise can step in and help. As a Frankfurt-based company, we like to take our share of responsibility for our city, its citizens and those who come to visit it. So we are pleased that, by sponsoring the Goethe House, we are able to help preserve a part of Frankfurt's cultural identity, and we hope that the Goethe House continues to enjoy the tremendous popularity that it deserves."

About DIC
DIC (Deutsche Immobilien Chancen), active throughout Germany, was founded in Frankfurt in 1998 and, with its innovative investment philosophy and its focus on the German market, is one of the most prominent and successful firms in Germany specialising in commercial real estate transactions. Its business activities include portfolio and asset management, which are handled by its SDAX listed company, DIC Asset AG, as well as project development and opportunistic investments. It currently has an interest of approximately 40 per cent in DIC Asset AG. The real estate assets managed by the DIC Group currently amount to around EUR 3.3 billion. Its shareholders are investment companies, institutional investors and private investors with a family background in industry.

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