Dorit and Stefan Pohl receive the Johann Christian Reinhart Medal

In the foyer of the Museum Bayerisches Vogtland, Dorit and Stefan Pohl were awarded the Johann Christian Reinhart Medal, the highest cultural honour bestowed by the city of Hof. With this award, the city of Hof honours their many years of outstanding commitment to cultural life in Hof.

Dorit Pohl comes from Hof, Stefan Pohl from Bocholt in North Rhine-Westphalia. The couple moved to Hof in 2015 - deliberately, as they emphasise. The decision was made due to the above-average cultural infrastructure that the city has to offer despite its manageable size. Passive users of cultural offerings soon became active creators: the couple have headed Kulturkreis Hof e.V. since 2019, with Stefan Pohl as chairman and Dorit Pohl as a board member and curatorial expert. The Pohls have played a decisive role in shaping exhibitions in Hof: from historical themes and contemporary photography to special Reinhart exhibitions, which have been supplemented with loans from private collections, among other things. Particularly noteworthy is the support given to the publication of the first comprehensive catalogue of Reinhart's works in the city's possession.

Thanks to the Pohls' dedicated management of the association, the Kulturkreis Hof e.V. developed from an originally purely supportive initiative for the Museum Bayerisches Vogtland into a reliable and long-term sponsoring organisation. In addition to their activities in the association, Dorit and Stefan Pohl also volunteered in other areas of social life: Dorit Pohl is active in Soroptimist International and Stefan Pohl is a member of the masonic lodge "Zum Morgenstern", also focussing on cultural topics.

The Cultural Advisory Board of the City of Hof unanimously recommended the awarding of the Reinhart Medal to the couple on the recommendation of Peter Nürmberger, Head of the Cultural Department. The city council also followed this recommendation unanimously. "Their work is a visible and lasting contribution to cultural life in Hof. The medal is a sign of our recognition and also a signal of the importance we attach to culture in the city," said Mayor Eva Döhla.

Reinhart Cabinet moves

In her speech, she not only emphasised the merits of the honourees, but also announced a structural change at the Museum Bayerisches Vogtland: the Reinhart Cabinet, which is run by the Kulturkreis Hof e.V., will in future be integrated into the museum's main department, a sign of the growing importance of Johann Christian Reinhart's artistic legacy. He is one of the most important artists that the city of Hof has produced. The Reinhart Cabinet has created a worthy space for his works. At the award ceremony, Dorit and Stefan Pohl reported on the creation and recent redesign of the cabinet. Thanks to donations of 12,000 euros from the Dr Hans Vießmann Foundation, the Wolfgang Siegel Foundation, the Hermann and Bertl Müller Foundation, Pro Hof e.V. and a number of private individuals, it was possible to realise the move, which not only provides significantly better facilities and infrastructure, but also new opportunities for special exhibitions.