STRASBOURG.- The 29th Council of Europe Art Exhibition, to be inaugurated on 26 and 27 August next, in Magdeburg and Berlin respectively, will be devoted to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (962-1806), covering the whole period from the coronation of the first Emperor Otto the Great to the abdication of the last Emperor Franz II.

From 28 August to 10 December 2006 visitors will be invited on a journey through almost 1000 years of history. The first part of the exhibition, “From Otto the Great to the end of the Middle Ages”, will display the older works of art at the Cultural History Museum in Magdeburg, while the second part, “Old Empire and New States”, will trace the later history of the Holy Empire, from 1495 to 1806, at the German Historical Museum in Berlin.

The Council of Europe series of art exhibitions began in 1954 with the aim of increasing knowledge and appreciation of European Art as one of the highest expressions of Europe's culture and common values. Over almost half a century the series has succeeded in illustrating most of the major periods of European art: Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Humanist, Classical, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-Classical, Romantic, Modern and Contemporary. Some exhibitions have focused more particularly on people who left an indelible mark on their time, eg Charlemagne, Queen Christina of Sweden, the Knights of Malta, the Medicis and King Christian IV of Denmark.