Gottfried Keller Foundation

In a letter dated 6 September 1890, shortly before the end of her tragic life, Lydia Escher (1858–1891) offered to the federal government a generous donation.

The donation is managed as a special funds of the Swiss Federation since 1890 under the name Gottfried Keller-Stiftung (GKS) by the Federal Department of Finance, and the income of the donation has to be used for the purchase of important works of visual art of Switzerland, to ensure that important works of Swiss art not moving out of the country and remain open to the public.

[3] The foundation aims the acquisition of major works of art from Switzerland and abroad, to entrust them as loans to Swiss museums or to return them to their original locations, such as the choir of the St. Urban's Abbey.

The purchases of valuable interiors, including Schloss Wülflingen in Winterthur, Maison Supersaxo in Sion and Freuler Palast in Näfels, preserved those Heritage objects at their previous environments.

The art dealer Martin Usteri acquired 32 glass panes in 1796, which were sold from his legacy in 1829, and thereafter installed in the today's Grodziec castle.

The Federal Department of Finance had originally fairly high equity allocation, which amounted in 1890 to 63.5% of the securities and, in particular a large stake in Credit Suisse, until 1903 dismantled in favor of bonds to 3.8%.

Placing the mentioned current value of the art collection of the original donation of the 3.46 million Swiss Francs, represents an annual growth rate of the nominal value between 4.3% and 5.3% (based on compound interest calculation).

In addition, the purchase of the St. Georgen Abbey, proved by the GKS in 1926, is a heavy financial burden due to the high operating costs.

In the center of the considerations ware revenue-side measures to expand the capital base, new opportunities for wealth management as well as a review of the administrative tasks of GKS.