This prize awarded by the Cultural Circle of German Business and Industry, part of the Federation of German Industries, was presented to Deutsche Bank in the “large companies” category for the “Wallraf the Museum Bus” school project in Cologne. Having been honoured with the Cultural Sponsorship Prize in 2006 for its young people and dance project Future@BPhil in Berlin, Deutsche Bank is now offering through “Wallraf the Museum Bus” an educational programme for young people which is the first of its kind Germany.

Together with the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and Cologne’s regional transport operator, the Deutsche Bank Foundation has, since the beginning of the year, been providing a specially equipped bus to pick up pupils aged between 10 and 14 from the Cologne area directly from their schools and take them to the museum. When they arrive at the museum, the young people can choose between three educational programmes. In a workroom set up specially for the project, they can get creative, draw, paint and experiment under expert supervision.

The response has been overwhelming: in the second half of the 2007/08 school year, sixty school classes made up of a total of 1,565 pupils took up the invitation to spend a day at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne. Three weeks after the project was launched in January 2008, the museum bus, which is free of charge, was already booked out until the end of the school year.

Once on the road, an on-board film gets the pupils in the mood for their day at the museum – a funny and exciting “art detective story”, which introduces the young viewers to the Wallraf museum, its staff and what they do. At the museum, a special programme for young people awaits them. Projects such as “Wallraf: Scene of the Crime – Looking for Clues in the Museum” and “Smiley Yellow, Spooky Green – Colours and Feelings” arouse the pupil’s curiosity about the art at the museum and encourage them to take get involved in the activities.

Promoting talent and opening up opportunities are the main aims of the corporate social responsibility activities of Deutsche Bank and its foundation in the areas of education and community development. “The pieces of work produced during the museum visits indicate the enthusiasm but also the seriousness with which the school children approach the art exhibited at the museum,” explains Michael Münch, member of the Deutsche Bank Foundation’s board. “We are especially pleased that so many Hauptschulen (non-university-track schools) from the Cologne area are taking advantage of this scheme – in the first six months, they made up over a third of all the schools participating. It means our programme is actually reaching pupils who would not ordinarily visit the museum.”

“Wallraf the Museum Bus” makes the museum visit as uncomplicated as possible; the school does not have to cover any costs or do any organization work. The unique partnership of bank, museum and regional transport operator has initially been established for three years. For “Wallraf the Museum Bus”, the museum took on two extra educational staff members to handle the organization, ongoing evaluation and development of the project based on the latest methods. The project is soon to be extended to include a competition for Cologne school children as well as a Wallraf Bus tour to educational projects of Deutsche Bank in several German cities starting in the 2008/09 school year.

The bus can be booked under +49 (0)221-24409. Project Manager Julia Müller is available for reservation inquiries and further information.