Celebrated German museum director Martin Roth dies aged 62
Nada Weigelt
BERLIN, Nada Weigelt (dpa) - German museum director Martin Roth, who was at the helm of London's Victoria and Albert Museum when it reached record visitor numbers, has died aged 62.
Sources close to Roth told dpa that the Stuttgart-born academic passed away after a battle with serious illness.
Roth was director of the Victoria and Albert Museum from 2011 until 2016, overseeing popular exhibitions on art and design, including the 2013 David Bowie retrospective and a 2015 exhibit on late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.
Named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the South Kensington museum receives nearly 3.5 million visitors per year.
It was named museum of the year by Britain's Art Fund in 2016, while under Roth's directorship.
Roth was already one of Germany's most successful cultural figures when he took the top job at the British museum.
After establishing his career as a curator at Berlin's German History Museum, he took on the role of director at the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden in 1991, before becoming director general of the eastern city's famed State Art Collections in 2001.
A vocal opponent of Brexit, he hinted on leaving the Victoria and Albert in 2016 at his disappointment in the EU referendum result that year, charging in an interview with radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that the arts' response to the vote had been "pathetic."
Tim Reeve, deputy director of the London museum, paid tribute to his former colleague on Twitter.
"My friend, Martin Roth. Sometimes infuriating, but mostly inspiring," he wrote.
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It was named museum of the year by Britain's Art Fund in 2016, while under Roth's directorship.
Roth was already one of Germany's most successful cultural figures when he took the top job at the British museum.
After establishing his career as a curator at Berlin's German History Museum, he took on the role of director at the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden in 1991, before becoming director general of the eastern city's famed State Art Collections in 2001.
A vocal opponent of Brexit, he hinted on leaving the Victoria and Albert in 2016 at his disappointment in the EU referendum result that year, charging in an interview with radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk that the arts' response to the vote had been "pathetic."
Tim Reeve, deputy director of the London museum, paid tribute to his former colleague on Twitter.
"My friend, Martin Roth. Sometimes infuriating, but mostly inspiring," he wrote.
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