The organisation

2019 Annual Report

The Anne Frank House was founded on 3 May 1957, and Otto Frank was one of the founders. It had the dual aim of preserving Anne Frank's hiding place and opening it up to the public, and drawing worldwide attention to Anne's life story.

Mission statement of the Anne Frank House

The Anne Frank House is an independent organisation dedicated to the preservation of the place where Anne Frank went into hiding and wrote her diary during the Second World War. The organisation brings the life story and the work of Anne Frank to the attention of as many people as possible worldwide, partly with the aim of raising awareness of the dangers of antisemitism, racism and discrimination and the importance of freedom, equal rights and democracy.

‘We cannot change what happened anymore. The only thing we can do is to learn from the past and to realise what discrimination and persecution of innocent people means.’
Otto Frank, 1970

2019 Priorities

  • We have observed that general knowledge about the Second World War and the persecution of the Jews is declining among young people. This is why we keep focusing attention on the historical background of Anne Frank's life story, in the museum and on our website. Knowledge of this background is required if you want to understand the relevance of Anne Frank's life story to the present. We also pay extra attention to our educational programme on the subject of antisemitism. In the museum, we are increasing the number of educational and introductory workshops.
  • Our primary target groups are the multipliers: teachers, student teachers, football coaches, peer educators, and police officers.

Board and organisation

The Anne Frank House adheres to the Governance Code for the Cultural Sector. The Governance Code for the Cultural Sector provides guidelines for the proper, responsible, and transparent governance of and by cultural institutions as well as guidelines for supervision of their governance. The code applies to all Dutch subsidised cultural institutions. Here you will find a more detailed explanation of the way in which the Anne Frank House complies with the eight principles of the Governance Code for the Cultural Sector.

The museum is managed according to a Supervisory Board model, in which the Executive Board is responsible for managing the Anne Frank House. The Executive Board is appointed by the Supervisory Council. The Supervisory Council supervises the Executive Board’s course of action and provides advice. The Advisory Council advises the Supervisory Council on issues that touch upon the identity of the organisation.

Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board supervises all aspects of the organisation. 

The Executive Board

The Executive Board is responsible for managing the Anne Frank House. Ronald Leopold has been executive director since 2011, and Garance Reus-Deelder has been the managing director since 2012.

The Executive Board

Remuneration policy

The Anne Frank House has its own terms and conditions of employment and, in principle, complies with the Museum CAO. The Executive Board is paid in conformity with the Governance Code for the Cultural Sector. The members of the Supervisory Board and the Advisory Boars are not paid.

GTC

The Anne Frank House values proper compliance with the GTC. In cooperating with other parties, for instance, we invariably conclude a so-called processing agreement, drawn up in accordance with GTC guidelines. Our compliance is periodically assessed by an external party. The Supervisory Board also receives a report about our compliance with the GTC.

Inclusion and diversity

The Anne Frank House adheres to the Code Cultural Diversity. In view of the objects clause contained in the articles of association of the Anne Frank House and the history it represents, diversity and inclusion are essential values. Our recruitment policy is therefore geared to a diverse composition of our staff.

Works Council

The Works Council represents the interests of the organisation and the employees of the Anne Frank House and participates in discussions about proposed organisational developments. The Works Council consists of five people. In 2019, several topics were covered, the most important of which was making the museum more flexible, in accordance with the new regulations for the deployment of flex workers. 

Partners

In Argentina, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, and the United States, the Anne Frank House collaborates with long-standing partner organisations. They host the travelling Anne Frank exhibitions and organise the accompanying educational activities in their country.

Finances

The Anne Frank House does not receive ongoing government funding for the museum and largely depends on the revenues from museum visits.

For the funding of major museum renovations and educational projects, the organisation depends on charity funds, donations, and subsidisers such as the European Union and the Dutch government.

Examples of project support

  • The European Commission contributed to a collaborative project between the Anne Frank House, the Museum of Polish Jews in Warsaw, and Kazerne Dossin in Mechelen (Belgium). These three institutions produce material for teachers and police organisations and have set up several meetings in which police officers and teachers from the three countries have shared their expertise.
  • The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sports (VWS) supported the development and implementation of educational projects in the Netherlands for teachers and teachers in training, young people, the police, and for educational activities in professional football. In addition, they made it possible for a staff member of the Anne Frank House to participate in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
  • The German Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung, Zukunft (EVZ) supported the implementation of the European online learning tool Stories that Move, about racism, antisemitism, and discrimination against Roma and Sinti, Muslims, and LGBT people.
  • On behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), we carried out interventions at football clubs to prevent antisemitism and racism among young people in the context of football.
  • On behalf of SZW, we also drew up a fact sheet with information on the status quo of right-wing extremism in the Netherlands.
  • The VFonds sponsored educational interactive theatre performances for Dutch secondary schools and vocational schools (mbo), and additional workshops for pupils and students.
  • The Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the placement of the Anne Frank exhibition Let Me Be Myself in various countries. 
  • The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to sponsor a long-term cooperation project between the Anne Frank House and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. In 2019, this allowed for the creation of the Polish version of the travelling Anne Frank exhibition Let Me Be Myself.
  • Veterans Affairs Canada, a programme of the Canadian government, co-funded a series of presentations of the travelling Anne Frank exhibition in the states of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta.
  • With the support of the Dutch agency of the EU programme Erasmus+ (the subsidy programme European Solidarity Corps), two European volunteers were placed at the Anne Frank House for a year.

BankGiro Loterij

Since 2007, the Anne Frank House has been an annual beneficiary of the BankGiro Loterij. The organisation receives a fixed annual amount of € 200,000. In 2019, we received the additional amount of € 46,510, thanks to the BGL participants who indicated that they wanted to play for the Anne Frank House.

Inhoud