  We present a combined study of the electronic structure of the
superconducting skutterudite derivative SrPt4Ge12 by means of X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy and full potential band structure calculations
including an analysis of the chemical bonding. We establish that the states at
the Fermi level originate predominantly from the Ge 4p electrons and that the
Pt 5d shell is effectively full. We find excellent agreement between the
measured and the calculated valence band spectra, thereby validating that band
structure calculations in combination with photoelectron spectroscopy can
provide a solid basis for the modeling of superconductivity in the compounds
MPt4Ge12 (M = Sr, Ba, La, Pr) series.
