Museum
Mon
31/03
free admission, fully accessible
closed
About us
The Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen is open to everyone, fosters diversity and creativity and connects people and art ranging from late nineteenth century to the present. Apart from the fields of collecting, conservation and research, the central focus of our work lies particularly on exhibiting and art education. As a place for reflection and experience for a broad audience, the Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen enables new insights into and encounters with art also thanks to its policy of free admission – introduced already in 1962!
Renowned throughout the country, the museum’s kinetic art collection of more than 80 international exhibits is the largest municipal collection of its kind in Germany. But there is much more to discover here besides: highlights of Classical Modernism, a collection of over 3,000 prints and drawings spanning several epochs, numerous examples of Constructive and Concrete art, and a contemporary exhibitions programme with international artists that allies the Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen with current developments in art.
history
The Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen can look back on a manifold history shaped by dedicated individuals. As early as in the 1920s, the city had already started collecting art, primarily prints and drawings. To begin with, there was neither a permanent venue to house the collection nor professionally trained staff to maintain it. In the period between 1933 and 1945, the reactionary arts policies of the Nazi regime led to the confiscation of municipally held works of art in Gelsenkirchen as elsewhere. By the end of World War II, war-related destruction and ideologically motivated seizures from the museum accounted for a loss of some 200 works – among them, paintings by Lovis Corinth, Max Pechstein and Christian Rohlfs.
Villa Pöppinghaus, Gelsenkirchen
View of the fountain and museum's entrance looking towards Villa Pöppinghaus and the transition to the new building. Photo: StadtA Ge, FS I 7794
With the appointment of the art historian Dr Bernd Lasch as director in 1950, the museum began to systematically build a collection around its remaining holdings. Lasch structured and systematised the collection and started to expand it, particularly in the field of Classical Modernism. Initially, the “Heimatmuseum” (Museum of local history) served as an exhibition venue until the city purchased Villa Pöppinghaus in Gelsenkirchen’s Buer district. It is largely thanks to Lasch’s persistence that this became the permanent home of the city’s art collection. Following his retirement, Lasch’s duties were provisionally assumed by the director of the local adult education centre, Dr Rainer Kabel. By this time, the city found itself increasingly without adequate funds for purchasing new works of art. In response, Kabel shifted the focus to acquiring contemporary art.
His initiative led to the creation of the museum’s now extensive and outstanding collection of kinetic art. With its ever-growing holdings the space for public presentation decreased, so that already by the 1960s ideas for adding an annex were being mooted. Nevertheless, it was not until 1984 that the new building based on plans by the architect Albert E. Wittig was finally opened. A glass bridge now connects the modern building with the historic Villa Pöppinghaus. To the present day, the Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen has continued to expand its collection, whose impressive thematic spectrum can be witnessed in regularly changing presentations.
Photograph of the museum's entrance. Photo: StadtA Ge, FS I 7793
RuhrKunstMuseen
The Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen is one of the twenty-one “RuhrKunstMuseen” (Ruhr Art Museums) that make up a unique urban museum landscape with an exceptional concentration of art from the nineteenth century to the present day. The RuhrKunstMuseen network stages joint exhibitions and projects that raise visibility and public awareness of the region’s diverse art scene, reaching out both to local audiences and visitors from beyond the Ruhr.
Following collaborative projects such as “China 8” (2015) and “Kunst und Kohle” (Art and Coal; 2018), in 2024 the RuhrKunstMuseen for the first time mount a digital exhibition with broad public impact that will network the art collections in all of the region’s twenty-one locations. On a local level, the network is active in conjunction with inter-metropolitan outreach projects such as “RuhrKunstNachbarn” (Ruhr Art Neighbours) or with an exhibition series on art in public spaces “Public Art Ruhr”.
Art in Public Spaces
In Gelsenkirchen, art is not just to be kept inside the museum: throughout the city, numerous works by international artists are also on view – in parks, streets, squares, school playgrounds and many other places – that have a lasting impact on urban culture. Some of the objects are instantly recognisable as art, others are so seamlessly integrated into the townscape that they can be barely detected. Then there are those works that are installed in public open spaces such as subway stations or public buildings.
Norbert Kricke, Raumplastik, 1960, Photo: StadtA Ge, FS I 10622
Günter Tollmann, o.T., 1973, Photo: Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen
The best way to get to know this city’s public art is to go on an “art walk”. Three different routes – two on foot, one by bike – allow you to discover various works of art. Each tour lasts about an hour and invites you to take a closer look. At every chosen site you’ll find a QR code to access background information via smartphone. For the art walks, a dedicated brochure has been published which can be downloaded here:
Team
Director
Julia Höner
Telefon: +49 209 169-4377
E-Mail: kunstmuseum@gelsenkirchen.de
Head of Collection
Denise Wegener
Telefon: +49 209 169-4179
E-Mail: denise.wegener@gelsenkirchen.de
Head of Education
Katharina König
Telefon: +49 209 169-4130
Administration and Secretariat
Jolanta Dammeyer
Telefon: +49 209 169-4377
Building Services
Zoran Damnjanovic, Efendi Karatas, Harald Wiewiora
Telefon: +49 209 169-4304
E-Mail: kunstmuseum@gelsenkirchen.de
Museum Guards
Hatice Bilgin, Thomas Chilek, Ulrike Dellbrügge, Sandra Gerigk, Gudrun Hannig, Sabina Jeglorz, Ursula Klein, Yesim Klein, Sieglinde Köpsell, Angelika Neunzig, Elisabeth Nowakowski, Ana Sculija, Manfred Tusche, Sabine Wyrwoll, Anja Webelsiep
Telefon: +49 209 169-4361
E-Mail: kunstmuseum@gelsenkirchen.de
Info
contact
address:
Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen
Horster Str. 5-7
45897 Gelsenkirchen
phone:
+49 209 1694361 opening times
Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. - 18 p.m.
free entry, fully accessible
The museum is closed on May, 1st and from Christmas Eve until New Year's Day.
by train
Tram 301 (Buer Rath. / Kunstmuseum)
Tram 302 (Buer Rathaus)
by car
Address: Horster Str. 5-7, 45897 Gelsenkirchen.
There is a car park behind the museum (fee required).