“Funded by private individuals.” That is what the website says. Bundestag printed paper 19/1426 tells a different story. #
What ZPS says #
The Centre for Political Beauty (Zentrum für Politische Schönheit, ZPS) describes itself as a “stormtroop for the establishment of moral beauty” [1]. Founder and director: Dr. Philipp Ruch, philosopher and action artist, born 1981 in Dresden [2].
On its own website it says: “The actions are funded by private individuals like you.” 4,000 “accomplices” make ZPS possible [3]. No foundations. No corporations. No taxpayer money. So the presentation goes.
The postal address is a scanbox in Berlin — not a business address, no office, no auditable structure [4]. The imprint reads: “Dr. Philipp Ruch · Scanbox #05952 · Ehrenbergstr. 16a · 10245 Berlin.” That is a mailbox service.
No legal form in the imprint. No registered association. No non-profit GmbH. No commercial register entry. No transparency report. No disclosure of funders. No obligation to do so — because it is not a registered organisation, but a “project” of a private individual.
What the Bundestag printed paper says #
On 27 March 2018, the federal government answered a minor inquiry by the AfD parliamentary group (printed paper 19/1158). The answer — printed paper 19/1426 — is publicly accessible [5].
The facts:
In 2014, the Maxim Gorki Theatre in Berlin hosted the festival “Voicing Resistance”. Part of this festival was the ZPS project “First International Wall Fall” — the action in which memorial crosses for victims of the Berlin Wall were taken from the government quarter [5].
The funding:
- 100,000 euros flowed from the Capital Cultural Fund into the festival “Voicing Resistance” [5]
- Of these, 10,000 euros are said to have flowed to the ZPS project [5]
- The Joint Committee — the body that decides on the allocation of funds — did not, according to media reports, know the “exact purpose” [5]
The Capital Cultural Fund is financed by federal funds. The money comes from the taxpayer.
What the federal government says about it #
The federal government was asked why the funding was not reclaimed — given that, in the framework of the project, memorial crosses were stolen and buses were sent to EU border installations.
The answer:
“A reclaim of the grant is regularly required in the case of misuse of the grant funds. In the present case, the implementation of the festival as a whole was, in the view of the federal government, covered by the purpose of the grant. A reclaim therefore did not appear justified.” [5]
Translated: ZPS removes memorial crosses for Wall victims from the government quarter, the state security service becomes active — and the federal government considers this covered by the purpose of the grant.
On the question of whether the jury even knew what it was funding, the federal government replies with a reference to the confidentiality of the jury sessions:
“The deliberations, the voting result, and the voting behaviour of the individual members are confidential.” [5]
Nobody knows what the jury decided. Nobody knows why. And nobody is allowed to ask.
What ZPS has done since then #
Since 2014, ZPS has carried out a series of actions that have become increasingly political:
- 2017: Holocaust Memorial replica in front of Björn Höcke’s house [6]
- 2019: “Soko Chemnitz” — call to denounce participants of right-wing demos [6]
- 2024: Fake website “afd-verbot.de” — disguised as a Scholz initiative [6]
- 2025: “Adenauer SRP+” — a bus with “2,500 pieces of evidence for an AfD ban” that drove through Germany and was confiscated by Berlin police [7][8]
The crowdfunding campaign for the Adenauer bus brought in over 100,000 euros — in one day [8].
ZPS calls itself a “think tank” and “action art”. In practice, it is a political campaign organisation operating under the protective shield of artistic freedom.
The transparency question #
| Organisation | Legal form | Transparency report | Funders disclosed | Annual accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HateAid | gGmbH | Yes | Yes (>10% funders) | Yes |
| Campact | e.V. | Yes | Yes (donation structure) | Yes |
| ZPS | None recognisable | No | No | No |
HateAid and Campact — which we have analysed in earlier articles — are transparent. You can trace their funding, examine their structures, question their decisions. Our HateAid investigation here.
ZPS is a black box. A man with a scanbox address, 4,000 anonymous “accomplices”, and actions that cost six-figure sums. Who pays beyond the crowdfunding campaigns is not auditable.
And that is no coincidence. It is the structure.
The question #
An “art collective” without a legal form, without a transparency obligation, without auditable finances — verifiably receives taxpayer money via detours (Capital Cultural Fund → Gorki Theatre → ZPS). The federal government reclaims nothing. The jury decisions are secret. The postal address is a mailbox.
At the same time, ZPS calls for an AfD ban, organises denunciation platforms, and drives a “prison bus” through Germany.
The question is not whether this is art. The question is: Who pays for it — and why does nobody know?
Sources #
[1] ZPS: Home page. politicalbeauty.de
[2] ZPS: Philipp Ruch — Vita. politicalbeauty.de
[3] ZPS: How does my support work? politicalbeauty.de
[4] ZPS: Imprint. politicalbeauty.de
[5] German Bundestag: Printed paper 19/1426 — Answer of the federal government: Approval of public funding for an art project of the artist collective Centre for Political Beauty. 27.03.2018. bundestag.de (PDF)
[6] Wikipedia: Centre for Political Beauty. de.wikipedia.org
[7] taz (10.02.2025): Centre for Political Beauty: Harassment during protest against the right — police confiscate Adenauer bus. taz.de
[8] t-online (11.12.2024): “Adenauer SRP+”: Artists want to accompany AfD election campaign with prison bus — crowdfunding breaks through 100,000 euros. t-online.de
“Funded by private individuals.” That is what the website says. In Bundestag printed paper 19/1426 it says: 100,000 euros of taxpayer money, a committee that didn’t know what for, and a federal government that reclaims nothing. Artistic freedom protects art. It does not protect mailboxes.
