Petra Hesse was born in Wiesbaden in 1966 and has been the director of the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne since March 2010. Prior to that, she worked in various functions at the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim, the largest municipal museum complex in southern Germany, since 1998, most recently director of the Museum Zeughaus and the Museum Schillerhaus as well as deputy to the general director. Her areas of responsibility included in particular the project management for the general renovation and museum refurnishing of the Museum Zeughaus as well as the supervision for the new construction of the Bassermannhaus for music and art. Lena Hoppe is the Research Associate for Metal Art, Objects made of Organic Materials, Jewellery and Weapons at the Museum of Applied Arts Cologne. Together they have also published Faszination Schmuck / Fascination Jewellery, a comprehensive monograph on 7000 years of jewelry history as showcased by the museum.