Freundes- und Förderkreis Deutsches Museum e.V.
Articles of Association
§ 1 Name and registered office, business year
I.
The association bears the name: Freundes- und Förderkreis Deutsches Museum.
It will be entered in the register of associations.
After registration it will add "e.V." to its name.
II.
The association has its registered office in Munich.
III.
The business year is the calendar year.
§ 2 Purpose of the association
I.
The purpose of the association is to support the Deutsches Museum with ideas and material sponsorship. It works in particular to help ensure that the museum has additional funds, exhibits and materials available to fulfil its educational mission and diverse cultural tasks. In performing those activities, the association works as a friends' association as defined in Section 58 No. 1 of the Tax Code (Abgabenordnung), i.e. it raises funds and forwards them to the Deutsches Museum to promote education.
The members see themselves as ambassadors of the Deutsches Museum, also at the international level, using their contacts and exerting their influence to promote the museum's work in general and to help with individual projects.
II.
The Association pursues aims exclusively and directly to engage in non-profit activities within the meaning of the section »Tax-privileged purposes« in the German Tax Code. It works on a non-partisan and non-denominational basis.
The Association is altruistic and does not mainly serve its own economic purposes. The Association's funds can be used only for the purposes set out in these Articles of Association. The members shall not receive any payments or benefits from the resources of the Association. No person may benefit through expenditures not serving the Association's purposes or through disproportionate compensation.
§ 3 Membership
I.
Any legally competent natural person or legal entity may become a member of the association.
The application for membership must be submitted in writing to the Board, which decides on acceptance. The application may be submitted in electronic form. The Board decides on the basis of its bylaws.
II.
All members undertake to pay to the Association the annual membership fee approved by the members' meeting. Members are permitted and asked to make voluntary donations in addition to the annual fee.
III.
Individuals who make outstanding contributions to the Association's work can be made honorary members by the Members' Meeting. Honorary members are members of the Association; they are exempt from the membership fee.
IV.
Membership expires:
- upon death
- by a written declaration of termination to the Board with a three months cancellation period effective to end of a business year.
- by a written expulsion decision by the Board. Such decision can be made for good cause, especially if a member acts grossly contrary to the reputation or the purpose of the Association or if, after being reminded, he is in arrear with two annual membership fees.
Details are regulated in the bylaws of the Board.
§ 4 Governing bodies
The Association's governing bodies are
- the Board
- the Members' Meeting
§ 5 Board
I.
The Board consists of the chairman, his/her deputy, the treasurer, the recording secretary and up to three more elected members.
The General Director of the Deutsches Museum belongs to the Board by virtue of his office.
II.
The Board is appointed for a three-year term of office by the Members' Meeting. The term ends upon the termination of the Members’ Meeting which elects a new Board. Board members can be re-appointed.
If a Board member departs prematurely, the remaining Board may decide to appoint a substitute Board member until the following Members’ Meeting. The following Members’ Meeting will then hold the substitute election for the departed Board member.
III.
The Association is represented both in and out of court by the chairman or his/her deputy, each acting together with one other Board member, pursuant to Section 26 (2) of the German Civil Code (BGB).
IV.
The Board has a quorum when all Board members have been invited and at least four are in attendance.
The Board passes all of its resolutions with a simple majority; in case of a tied vote, the vote of the General Director of the Deutsches Museum shall be decisive.
V.
The Board shall provide itself with Bylaws. Details of the distribution of responsibilities within the Board shall be regulated in the Bylaws.
§ 6 Members' meeting
I.
A Members' Meeting must be convened in writing at least once a year by the Board with at least four weeks' notice. This notice period begins on the day following the day the invitation is mailed. The invitation must include the agenda.
The Members' Meeting is chaired by the Board chairman or his/her deputy.
II.
The tasks of the Members' Meeting are:
- Appointing the Board
- Setting the membership fees
- Ratifying the annual report and the accounts and the business plan prepared by the Board
- Formal approval of the actions of the Board
- Appointment of honorary members
- Amendments to the Articles of Association
- Dissolving the Association
III.
An extraordinary Members' Meeting takes place when convened in writing in accordance with a resolution passed by the Board or when requested by at least one third of the members, stating the purpose and reasons for the meeting.
IV.
The Members' Meeting is deemed to have a quorum regardless of the number of members in attendance. Resolutions are passed by simple majority; abstentions are not counted; a tied vote on a proposed resolution is counted as rejection. A member may vote by granting a proxy to another member in writing. A member may not represent more than three voting members.
V.
To pass a resolution to amend the purpose of the Association or to dissolve it, the approval of at least three quarters of the members is required.
It is possible to vote in writing.
VI.
A written record must be kept of the members' resolutions passed.
It must be signed by the chairman of the meeting and the recording secretary.
VII.
The General Director of the Deutsches Museum or his deputy take part in the Members' Meeting by virtue of their office.
§ 7 Ambassador committee
The Board can appoint an ambassador committee from among the members to support it in performing its tasks. The details are regulated in the by-laws of the Board.
§ 8 Honorary president
The Board can appoint an honorary president who provides it with advice.
§ 9 Final provisions
If the Association is resolved or its tax-privileged purposes no longer apply, its assets shall devolve to the Deutsches Museum, which shall use them directly and exclusively for non-profit purposes.
§ 10 Entry into force
These Articles of Association shall enter force upon their approval by the founding meeting on 13 Noveber 2000 in Munich.
§ 11 The enrolment declarations of the founding members are attached as an integral part of these Articles of Association.
These Articles of Association were approved at the founding meeting of the Freundes- und Förderkreis Deutsches Museum in Munich on 13 November 2000.
§ 2 (1) sentence 3 was subsequently added with the approval of all founding members at the request of Munich Tax Office for Corporations.
The Association was entered in the Register of Associations of the Munich District Court under Reg. No. 17381 on 21 August 2001.