When the new artistic director Götz Friedrich initiated the founding of a support association for the Deutsche Oper Berlin soon after taking office, Edzard Reuter was one of the first prominent figures he was able to recruit for the project. It was to be a lasting relationship: as chairman, honorary chairman and finally honorary member of the association, Reuter stood by the theatre even in the difficult times following reunification and in 2004 he took over the patronage of the children's dance project ‘Kinder tanzen für Kinder’ (Children dance for children), which was based at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Reuter belonged to a generation of German industrialists for whom the encouragement of culture was a matter of course and who were aware of the social function of opera and theatre – perhaps also because the son of the later Governing Mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter had to experience emigration and exile himself during his childhood. His commitment to the culture of his hometown of Berlin and especially to the Deutsche Oper remained important to him even after he had left the city and accepted the position of head of the Daimler-Benz Group. The Deutsche Oper Berlin mourns the loss of a generous patron of the arts and will honour his memory.

‘Especially in times when Berlin's cultural diversity is under threat, we realise how important people like Edzard Reuter were and are. I have always been impressed by the way he used his influence to protect and promote culture behind the scenes.’ – General Director Dietmar Schwarz