Berlin - Three top German art museums agreed Wednesday to lend their paintings to Dubai on the shores of the Gulf, where a citadel of high culture is planned using the emirate's vast oil wealth.

The deal was announced in Berlin by Michael Schindhelm, a German who is the cultural chief of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

The participating German museum administrations are the State Museums of Berlin, the State Art Collections of Dresden and the Bavarian State Painting Collections of Munich.

Dubai's plan for a Universal Museum of World Art at Khor Dubai rivals a project in neighbouring Abu Dhabi to build branches of the Paris Louvre and the Guggenheim museum of modern art in a "cultural district" of Abu Dhabi's offshore Saadiyat Island.

Both rich emirates are building world-class cities in the sunshine intended to become magnets for tourists.

Schindhelm, who was formerly chief executive of the Berlin Opera Foundation and has access to senior German culture figures, said, "Dubai has a great future as the laboratory of globalization in the 21st century, with culture gaining a bigger focus."

Martin Kobler of Germany's Foreign Ministry voiced support for the link-up with the three cities' art collections, saying he hoped they made an big impression in the Gulf.

The Khor Dubai project is also to include a 1-billion-dollar opera house.

Schindhelm said the universal museum would cover a wide range of cultural history "from manuscripts to astronomy" with Arab culture in the foreground.

He said a pavilion designed by architect Rem Koolhaas would be used for exhibitions until the great museum had been built. dpa)