The publication of the Kamm Collection is surprising and of far-reaching significance, as it is probably the most important collection of Viennese Modernism outside of Austria, the extent of which has hitherto been completely unknown. It contains outstanding groups of works by Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann, Richard Gerstl, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, Alfred Kubin, among others, as well as numerous objects from the Wiener Werkstätte.

For once, Paris was not the primary center of attraction for private collectors. In the 1950s and 1960s, Fritz Kamm, a private banker living in Zug, supported by his Viennese wife Editha, turned his way in the opposite direction to Vienna, which at the time was destroyed and isolated under Allied occupation on the eastern edge of Western Europe. It was in this cultural vacuum that the singular Kamm Collection was formed long before Viennese Modernism was discovered and shown in monumental exhibitions worldwide.

Kamm's unusually early turn to the art of this city - especially from Zug - is the result of a special friendship with the Austrian sculptor Fritz Wotruba. He had aroused his interest in art and acted as an advisor. After the death of his father, his descendants Christa and Peter Kamm took care of the holdings. To this day, they have kept it alive by rounding it off and expanding it. The most important and useful addition is the estate of Josef Hoffmann and numerous objects from the Wiener Werkstätte (and its surroundings) by the Zug architect Peter Kamm and his wife, the art historian Christine Kamm-Kyburz.

Fritz Kamm and Wotruba, however, acquired art not only from Austria, but also specifically from France and Germany: Cubism, Expressionism and Bauhaus are the main areas, including groups of works by Fernand Léger, August Macke and Oskar Schlemmer, just to name a few. Numerous high-calibre works have been shown worldwide as anonymous loans, especially paintings by Klimt, Gerstl and Schiele, but now for the first time it is possible to see in context what was created by Klimt was previously known to experts only in fragments. Some of the works by Hoffmann, Kokoschka, Schiele, Kubin and Kirchner are new discoveries.

The collection is also significant because of the concept that Wotruba underpinned it. It can be traced back largely to the pioneering exhibition activities of the renowned Viennese gallery, whose artistic director Wotruba served from 1953 to the beginning of 1965. Its owner, who soon became legendary in Vienna because he was largely unknown, was Fritz Kamm. The Zug collection gradually came into being as a result of these activities. Since Kamm gave Wotruba a free hand in the choice of program and was advised by him on purchases, it can certainly be described as artists' collection.

It all started in Zug. It was there that the socialist Wotruba and his Jewish wife Marian went into exile in 1939 through the mediation of Philipp Etter, then a member of the Zug Federal Council. In Switzerland, the sculptor took part in museum exhibitions, got to know many intellectuals and artists, was able to work and found patrons. In the first place, Wotruba later mentioned Fritz and Editha Kamm, who became close friends. The province of Zug benefited from the guest. He became a role model for the first generation of artists who behaved self-confidently and independently. Together with their representatives, he repeatedly exhibited in Zug. At the end of 1945 he was appointed to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Wotruba returned and immediately began to engage in the cultural reconstruction of the "wounded" city. In 1953, the opportunity arose to acquire the renowned Würthle Gallery, and Wotruba was able to convince Kamm of the less lucrative idea. The gallery was intended to be a platform for the dialogue of modernism - Austrian and European. The most important trends were presented and younger artists had the opportunity to exhibit. Soon, the Würthle was once again the city's first address, as it had been before the war, and provided important impetus with pioneering projects.

The presentation concept of the Kamm Collection is based on Wotruba's idea of cultural exchange by showing his work spatially between Viennese Modernism in the south wing and German and French modernism in the north wing. Wotruba returned to Zug again and again to meet Kamms. In the 1970s, the Zug Art Society, led by Rainer Peikert, the newly elected president, Christa Kamm, and wartime artist friends, became interested in the sculptor. He was shown in the theatre in the Burgbachkeller (as they did not yet have their own house), commemorated after his death and were able to add his first works to the collection, also thanks to the support of his widow Lucy Wotruba. In addition, the canton acquired several sculptures.

From 1990 onwards, the new premises created different conditions: new works were added to the collection, especially important permanent loans from Wotruba's Viennese estate; In 1992 his first posthumous retrospective took place at the Kunsthaus Zug, which attracted national and international attention, etc. With the establishment of the Kamm Collection Foundation and its home in the Kunsthaus Zug, we have come full circle: "The exhibition, which neither Fritz and Editha Kamm nor us had ever planned, gave rise to the idea and the desire to essentially preserve the collection founded by the parents and continued and expanded by us, into a foundation and made accessible to the public at the Kunsthaus Zug. Because we believe that something has been created in Zug - and also thanks to Zug - that should belong to Zug. The Kunsthaus's collection, enriched by our foundation, will enable the Zug public to engage more deeply with art and thus open up windows to the world on a cultural level" (Christa Kamm, Christine Kamm-Kyburz and Peter Kamm).

The Kamm Collection Foundation, which will be certified in the next few weeks, will receive 430 works; the foundation's assets amount to around 70 million Swiss francs. The establishment of the foundation is a milestone in the cultural development of the canton. The first presentation is part of the project "Collecting Art" initiated by the Schweizerischer Kunstverein. Swiss art collections since 1848, in which ten museums are participating on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. The intention to highlight the importance of private collecting for the creation of public collections is impressively demonstrated by the establishment of the Kamm Collection Foundation. For the region, it is invaluable - and an obligation. One cannot thank the founders enough for their generous and far-sighted attitude. There is probably no other place outside of Austria where Viennese Modernism can be seen in such a high-quality, multifaceted and yet concentrated way as in Zug.