"[6] Berlin's culture senator, Thomas Flierl, expressed misgivings, saying that by rebuilding his business empire in the 1950s and 1960s, Friedrich Flick personified tolerance of former Nazi moguls.
[7] Salomon Korn, vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, wrote an open letter to the Munich newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung asking, "Will there soon be a 'Göring Collection' in Berlin?
Satirical posters appeared near the Hamburger Bahnhof, offering "free entry for slave labourers" and accusing Flick of using his art collection to avoid paying taxes.
[8] Several prominent artists, including Gerhard Richter, Hans Haacke, Marcel Odenbach and Thomas Struth, made statements in Germany's national weekly broadsheet "Die Zeit" protesting that Flick's principles were immoral and that it was not appropriate for a private collector to be able to determine the content of a state-funded museum.
Others, including photographer Wolfgang Tillmans and painter Luc Tuymans, defended Flick, praised his artistic good taste and pointed out that Berlin on its own lacks the financial means with which to purchase comparable works of art.