Mudam President Olinger comments on the situation in the museum
How big are the Mudam problems really? Is Bettina Steinbrügge, as the director of the museum, in the crossfire as much as the media reporting partially suggests? The conclusions of the consulting company Qualia now reached the public are currently in the room and heat up the debate.
What was Passer? Following a meeting of the Chamber Culture Commission, the results of a survey by the advisory company Qualia of Minister of Culture Eric Thill, who had positioned the Mudam case in the Commission, were made available. These have also reached the media; In the meantime, the document is also available to the « Luxembourg word ».
Mudam inventory: conflicts and polarization
But there is no reporting on a classification and important details; Especially also on the content of the Chamber Culture Commission meeting, which triggered the political aftershock and allegations of MP Djuna Bernard to the Minister of Culture. A statement by the current Board of Directors Jean-Paul Olinger reads the “Luxembourg Word”. The director of the tax administration was appointed Mudam President on March 14.
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For the first time, he publicly commented on the Mudam and the media reports in the past few days: « It is important to me to emphasize that the inventory and the conclusions of 2024 come, » said Olinger about the quality results. « In order to ensure objectivity and transparency, Qualia was commissioned in August/ September 2024 to present the board of directors an external analysis of governance, resource management and the procedures ».
He emphasizes that the Mudam Board of Directors himself commissioned this survey to the consulting company; And: There was no order from the Council for a far extensive audit. So the term was wrong.
Inventory, not audit
The order was to identify problems in the Mudam system and to get recurring facts under control with a methodical procedure. This is how it writes Qualia in its presentation. The state of affairs shown roughly corresponds to the situation in late autumn / winter 2024 when the inventory was carried out – and was therefore months ago.
Olinger emphasizes the temporal processes compared to the « Luxemburger Word », which therefore appear to be significant. The « inventory in the form of a power point presentation was presented to the Mudam on December 19, 2024 (board of directors and director) as well as on January 20, 2025 (management team and personal elegation) of Qualia. The then President Patrick Majerus sent his letter of termination the day after (01/21/2025), » said the administrative council president in the review.
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Since then, the work on the advisory companies’ suggestions has already been underway. « This does not mean that all problems have been resolved, » said Olinger. Even before his start, the board of directors around interim president Beryl Bruck « put the first proposals from Qualia together with the director Bettina Steinbrügge. »
Since he became active as President, the Board of Directors has been concentrating together with the management « on the next strategic steps. This includes developing a clear vision, a contemporary strategy and roadmap, the conception of new ambitious projects and strengthening the well -being of employees, » said Olinger.
Solutions long ago
In his statement, the president outlines the steps in detail: Not only three board meetings have taken place since Patrick Majerus’s withdrawal (January 30, March 25 and April 15, 2025.) « Additional meetings were organized by the director between the new president and the management team (April 2, 2025), the entire team (17th) and the personnel regulation (17th. April 2025).
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« Furthermore, several internal working groups have emerged which involve individual representatives of the management team, the management and the board of directors, » continued the Mudam President. « In the meantime, contact with Qualia has also been restored and the conclusions of the inventory are used as the basis for the work of the working groups and for further decisions. »
Cultural commission better informed than shown
These initiatives were also presented to the Chamber Culture Commission on April 23. And: « The Minister of Culture offered the Commission to send a delegation of the Mudam for follow-up reporting in late autumn 2025, » said Olinger. These details from the commission meeting were not yet known, also because the minutes of the session have not yet been published.
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Olinger implicitly warns of moderation in the public debate behind the processes; And he refers to the order of the council: « The board of directors is aware of its responsibility and will take the necessary steps in dialogue with the management and the ministry to ensure the stability, relevance and quality of the Mudam in the future. »
Because like the president of the board of directors, who only had to do with the house as a visitor before taking office, put his letter to the Luxembourg word: « The Mudam and his employees do an excellent work.
The opinion of the Qualia consultants
The Qualia consultants are shortened in the key points of a presentation of urgently solving structural problems and especially antagonisms. The status is the late autumn / winter 2024. Three fields of these problems are identified: the counterplay between internal governance and the political influence in the Mudam, contrary views in the artistic field and personal differences. The conclusions do not contain exactly those who are to be attributed.
A situation of polarization was created in the Mudam and there is no possibilities and rules for internal dialogue. This is interpreted as follows: a kind of storage has taken place. Pressure uses the staff in general. The background to the functional and political pressure can also be converted by the Mudam from the form of a foundation into an establishment public, but this does not appeal to the consulting company.
Added and departure of employees and managers and always new internal and external measures would have created unrest over the years. The additional financial pressure on the museum then leads to « step back in the organization and thus to conflicts, » said Qualia.
In this confusion of the restructuring, hierarchy problems and « bypassing » established decision-making channels have occurred. So: Who decides what if employees suddenly go or have new paths are taken? Who has what competencies? That tightened the conflicts. There were then confrontations in particular.
And the staff themselves? The employees would have been prompted to « move into a position » rather than put them on the dialogue.
The recommended measures include: the basic reorganization of internal governance, the clarification of the hierarchy, the roles and responsibilities of all participants (including clear relationships between the internal levels such as the management and the finance department, as well as the conditions of the Mudam managers with the administrative council and the Ministry), clear dialogue options and a « red thread » in the structure changes and after establishing.
