The rose is a fascinating flower. Not only is it an ornament for any garden and wonderfully fragrant – no, it has also influenced wide parts of life with its symbolic power, such as love, politics, art, mythology, religion, and much more. Furthermore, rose oil and rose water are used in the cosmetics and food industries, and 42 percent of all cut flowers sold are roses, with cultivation in non-European countries and trade being problematic.

As particularly beautiful flowering plants and an indispensable part of the ecosystem, roses can also raise awareness of the pressing issues of the present, such as biodiversity and conservation, and thus the climate problem. All of this is at the center of the exhibition on the cultural history of the rose, while of course the plant and its role in garden culture will not be overlooked.
Interesting objects from the fields of fashion, design, art, as well as everyday life, are meant to convey a sense of the allure that the rose has exerted and continues to exert – even with its dark side.

Scent stations promise an experience for the senses, and several interactive stations make the exhibition an experience for the whole family.

Sponsored by the MWK and the Lüneburg Landscape Association, the VR Foundation of the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken in Northern Germany, Volksbank Celle, branch of the Hannoversche Volksbank, and the Museumsverein Celle e.V.

Tue - Sun 11 AM - 5 PM

We all access the internet daily through web browsers. The question of how browsers determine what we experience online has fascinated artists early on. Based on a research project by the KIT Institute for Art and Architectural History on browser art, the exhibition »Choose Your Filter!« provides insights into 30 years of browser development. Here, you can discover and try out browser visions through interactive installations. 

Wed to Fri from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Sat and Sun 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM

With the exhibition of Peter Buggenhout, the Waldfrieden Sculpture Park in Wuppertal is launching its new exhibition season on March 8, 2025: The Belgian sculptor presents a total of seven spatially expansive objects from different groups of works in two of the exhibition halls and in the outdoor area of the park. Buggenhout is internationally known for his sculptures, which he forms from discarded materials and which take on shape in space as sprawling bodily forms. The artist refers to his sculptures as "abject things" – as objects that evade familiar cognitive connections and demand more than just a perspective of observation.

The sculptures of Peter Buggenhout, born in 1963 in Dendermonde, Belgium, and living and working in Ghent, consist of things that have been deprived of the use of their original functionality: Waste and artifacts equally form the materials that the artist uses as his working material and from which he composes his objects. Used plastic films, tarpaulins, textile fabrics, newspapers, scrap metal, wood fragments, or organic substances like cow stomachs, horse hair, and dust become components of his works. Buggenhout creates massive forms from these abandoned remnants, which embody the emergence and decay in the immediate presence of the material and its rugged shapes.

Peter Buggenhout, who turned away from painting around 1990 to transition to sculptural designs, has been working for several years in groups of works with different material focuses and overarching themes. The pre-existing, the cyclical, and the temporality of things are fundamental themes that he formulates as diverse sculptural inventories in his groups of works.

His sculptures possess no single view direction; the multi-facetedness of his works is as essential as the significance of the equivalence and simultaneity of their elements. The discarded is always an important part of the foundation of his creation.

Peter Buggenhout about his work:
“The materials I use all have one thing in common: I did not choose them because I liked their shape or appearance. All objects that I find have in common that they do not really refer to a meaning in terms of their formal identity. For example, instead of an old chair, I might use a piece from the chair in such a way that it’s not noticeable what kind of object it was before. This is the quality of waste, so to speak. Dust also possesses this quality. All my working materials are 'abject,' that is, discarded or disgusting… taken from their original state, have lost their form and meaning.”

11 AM - 6 PM, open on all holidays

Welcome to the realm of knowledge in the Baroque era: Stepping onto creaking floorboards into the quiet grandeur of our historical library hall, one is immediately enveloped by the collective knowledge of the Early Modern period. Like stage sets in a Baroque theater, the original bookshelves jut into the space, housing around 50,000 books from all fields of knowledge. Behind unassuming book spines lie remarkable treasures, such as the first German Bible printed in America.

At the end of the 17th century, the orphanage's library was established as one of the first public libraries in Germany. Primarily through donations, book exchanges, and their own publications, the library grew so rapidly that within a few years, it was comparable to significant German university libraries. In 1728, it received its own building, which is considered the oldest surviving secular library structure in Germany. Not only in recent times has the library been visited by guests and researchers from around the world: Albrecht von Haller, Johann Joachim Winckelmann, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe all admired its bibliophilic treasures. We present a selection of them for you in rotating cabinet exhibitions in the former reading room of the library.

10 am - 5 pm

If you are between 12 and 15 years old and want to dive into the world of theater and try out new roles, the TTC is the right place for you!

Out of school and into the theater. In the TTC, we play only what we want. Together with Alina, you will get to decide what you want to bring to the stage. We will develop our piece together with our themes and show it on the big stage. Does that sound exciting? Then sign up!

Course start: 06.05.2025, 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM every Tuesday (for 11 sessions), with no rehearsals during holidays.

The registration fee is 25.00 euros.

Funded by the Children's and Youth Promotion Plan of the State of NRW with the friendly support of LKD NRW.

YOU ARE MY MOTHER
by Joop Admiraal (translated into German by Monika The)

On June 15, 2004, this play with Stephan Moos as the performer had its premiere at the Theaterhaus. Now, 16 years later, after a revision of the script, Stephan Moos will once again showcase his great acting versatility on stage. The son visits his mother in a nursing home. The routine of their weekly encounters with their constant ritual fades into an intense, loving dialogue, infused with subtle humor and a melancholic mood. The drama achieves an impressive form with the portrayal of mother and son by a single actor. The play, first performed in 1981 in Amsterdam, has not lost its significance. The vulnerability of elderly people, their dependency on their loved ones, the growing lack of zest for life, and the controversy surrounding the premature termination of the decay process are themes that have become even more relevant since the play's inception, gaining new urgency in the times of Corona.

"It is a sophisticated interplay between the characters that requires the utmost concentration and precision. With Stephan Moss, every detail is in place... 'You Are My Mother' is also pure acting art, exciting theater with intriguing characters."
Stuttgarter Zeitung, June 18, 2004

Performer: Stephan Moos | Director (Revised Version): Werner Schretzmeier | Set/Costume Design: Gudrun Schretzmeier | Performance Rights: Litag Theaterverlag GmbH & Co. KG

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The new collection presentation at the Vitra Schaudepot focuses on visions of the future in design, bridging the gap from the set designs of early science fiction films to the creation of virtual spaces. Groundbreaking furniture designs from the Vitra Design Museum collection demonstrate how technological innovations and utopian visions become part of our everyday lives, influencing our environment. Furniture from the 1960s Space Age reflects the pioneering spirit of an era shaped by the moon landing and space exploration. Since the beginning of the new century, designers have been creating "virtual" realities, blurring the boundaries between physical and analog design. The artistic concept for the exhibition design comes from Andrés Reisinger, a digital artist known for his work in NFT design.

Designers have always been fascinated by visions of the future. The Vitra Schaudepot presentation spotlights ideas of a future world, manifested in design creations ranging from early science fiction film sets to the design of virtual spaces. Pioneering objects from the Vitra Design Museum collection show, how technological innovation and utopian concepts find their way into our everyday environment. The Space Age furniture of the 1960s, for example, bears witness to the spirit of progress in an era shaped by extraterrestrial exploration. Since the turn of the millennium, the boundaries between analog and digital realms have become increasingly relevant as physical limitations dissolve in cyberspace, altering the laws of design. The artistic idea for the exhibition design was developed by Andrés Reisinger, a figure at the vanguard of NFT design.

Designers have always been fascinated by visions of the future. The new presentation of the Vitra Schaudepot collection titled "Science Fiction Design" highlights ideas of a future world manifested in design creations ranging from early science fiction film sets to the design of virtual spaces. Innovative objects from the Vitra Design Museum collection show how technological innovation and utopian concepts find their place in our daily environment. For example, the "Space Age" furniture from the 1960s bears witness to the spirit of progress in an era marked by space exploration. Since the turn of the millennium, the boundaries between the analog and digital realms have become increasingly blurred as physical limits dissipate in cyberspace, changing the laws of design. The artistic design of the exhibition will be created by digital artist Andrés Reisinger, a leading figure in NFT design.

Image: Andrés Reisinger, The Shipping, 2021 © Reisinger Studio.

Palace-like, the orphanage rises on Franckeplatz. Then as now, it is the centerpiece of the Francke Foundations. Erected in 1698 as the first building of the school city, it represents a new facet of European Baroque, combining confident representation without extravagant ornamentation and setting the tone for orphanage architecture.

Today, the orphanage is our museum and cultural center. Right from the start, two permanent exhibitions guide you through the history of the foundation and the global impact of Pietism. On the first floor, the former prayer and singing hall surprises with its bright architecture. Today, it enjoys an excellent reputation as a concert hall due to its fantastic acoustics. In the adjacent conference rooms, a photo exhibition showcases the impressive renovation work since the foundations were reestablished in 1991. The second floor is reserved for our changing special exhibitions, which provide insight into important themes of the foundation's history from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Passing through the art and natural history collections in the attic, you reach the balcony via a narrow wooden staircase. Here, a wide view opens up over the impressive ensemble with school buildings from three centuries. There is also a splendid panorama of the Old Town of Halle from here. In the basement, children can explore their own paths in the Krokoseum.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

With the redesign of the archaeological department, the third part of the museum's re-conception is completed. The exhibition "Verdammt lang her!" shows the archaeology of the region from the Stone Age to the time of the Alamanni, taking into account the latest research aspects.

Around 100 new loans from the Archaeological Fund Archive of Baden-Württemberg enrich the exhibition and illustrate important individual themes. For example, the gravestone of a Suebian prince found in Bühl in 2011 is shown for the first time. The stone bears the only inscription discovered so far in Baden-Württemberg, providing information about early Roman administration. Important finds from Offenburg and the surrounding area - bronzes, ceramics, jewelry - document the excavation activities of recent decades. But research gaps are also addressed.

The new presentation focuses on archaeological work: How do archaeologists work, how do they determine the age of something, and since when have archaeological finds been of interest to museums?

Hands-On stations, vivid life depictions, and a media station address various aspects of the exhibition and invite visitors to participate and try out.

Closed on Mondays
Tue-Sun 10 am - 5 pm

The exhibition  „Margot und die anderen – Forced Sterilization in National Socialism“ focuses on the cruel practice of forced sterilizations of people who did not fit into the racist, inhumane system of the Nazi regime, and writes a local history of Wiesbaden that has so far received little attention – the story of the so-called Rhineland children, who were sterilized on oral order in „Secret Reich Affair“, simply because they looked different, because they had the „wrong“ fathers, because they were not „German“ enough. The exhibition places particular emphasis on writing the individual stories of the Wiesbaden children while also illuminating the issue of forced sterilization in Nazi unjust legislation. Last but not least, the exhibition project raises the question of what it means to live here and now, and what responsibility we all bear for this „here“ and „now“.

12:00 to 17:00

Humans are the central theme in the artistic work of Richild Holt (*1941, Einöde near Villach, Austria). A combination of realistic accuracy in figurative representation and an expressive style characterizes the sensitive, honest (self-)portraits of the artist.

The faces and bodies are modeled in strong light-dark and color contrasts. The figures are set against a reduced and highly abstracted background. Emotional intensity, tense dynamics, and great intimacy characterize the portraits.

The painting process is accompanied by a close exchange between the portrayed and the artist, during which a likeness is created that captures the personality of the subject and translates it onto the canvas. Richild Holt describes these joint portrait sessions as "the most intense conversation one could imagine."

Her nudes are subtle portraits in which she achieves authenticity instead of idealized representation. In the tradition and aspiration of portrait painting since the High Renaissance, Richild Holt's works express appearance and personality. Viewers encounter an intense physicality and vulnerability. In its immediate presence, the body simultaneously represents a carrier and visible expression of experiences, emotions, and social connotations, of identity. Just like in the blue hour of the evening twilight with its melancholic atmosphere, the outer and inner aspects of the portrayed shine equally bright.

12:00 to 17:00

Die Augen des Krieges

26.03.2025 – 26.09.2025

Polish Institute Düsseldorf, Citadellstr. 7, 40213 Düsseldorf

On February 24, 2022, history was rewritten. For three years, we have been observing events that are changing not only the history of Ukraine and Russia, but also Poland, Europe, and the world.

Polish photographers and journalists document this history by showing both the Russian war against Ukraine, the flow of refugees, and everyday life in the war zone. They make up the largest group among foreign correspondents and are the creators of thousands of photos. Thanks to their work, the war in Ukraine is visible to people even in the most remote parts of the world. It does not appear as a conflict at the end of the world, but as a real, deeply shared tragedy.

This history is also changing Poland on many levels – from demographics to social change and political issues. At the same time, the war is gradually becoming more familiar to us citizens of the free world, and we are getting used to it. The selected photographs – the most representative and meaningful – are compiled into an exhibition and tell a story about the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine. As material testimonies of this conflict, they can once again stir the growing indifference of public opinion.

The authors of the 12 exhibited photographs are prominent Polish photographers who have been awarded at major photo competitions such as World Press Photo and Pictures of The Year, including Wojciech Grzędziński, Marek Berezowski, Tomasz Lazar, and many others who have dealt with the war in Ukraine. The exhibition is complemented by descriptions of the personal war experiences of the photographers written by Magdalena Rigamonti.

Curator: Ewa Meissner

Text author: Magdalena Rigamonti

Graphic design: Maciej Jabłoński

Producer: Jarosław Włodarczyk / Press Club Polska

Partner in presenting the exhibition at the Polish Institute in Düsseldorf: Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Cologne and Consulate General of Ukraine in Düsseldorf

Photos by Patryk Jaracz, Agata Grzybowska, Jędrzej Nowicki, Tomasz Lazar, Maciek Nabrdalik, Maciej Stanik, Wojciech Grzędziński, Marek M. Berezowski

Tue, Wed and Fri 11 am - 5 pm. Thu 11 am - 7 pm

The sculptor Christiane Löhr, born in Wiesbaden in 1965, who now lives in Cologne and in Prato, Italy, creates an impressive sculptural and installative cosmos. For this, she uses various materials from nature, which she spatially and architecturally places in a new context. Organic elements such as flying seeds, plant stems, burrs, tree blossoms, or horsehair are used by her as construction material for her unique work. The sculptor rather casually finds all the shaping natural formations to then bring them into a new order and make conscious placements in the space.

 

Wed to Fri from 2 to 5 PM, Sat/Sun from 11 AM to 5 PM

Permanent Exhibition Nature and Geology

The sensory, colorful, exciting, and informative family exhibition awakens interest in nature in our surroundings and is a space for exploration for visitors both big and small.

 

Nature

In the natural history section, questions like "Is the deer the female of the stag?", "Why do birds have beaks?", or "Do ducks get cold feet?" are answered vividly and in detail. The exhibition welcomes its visitors in the large, atmospheric attic with open landscape scenarios on the themes of forest, land, and river.

A huge maple tree in autumn colors seems to grow out of the wall and overlooks the detailed forest landscape. Here, you can find animals such as badgers, deer, the shy wildcat, and a variety of forest birds.

The meadow also offers numerous discoveries: the hawk peeks through the grass, you can find crawling creatures under the stone, and even the mole has found its spot.

The river landscape is populated by local fish, mussels, and crabs, with ducks and other birds comfortably settled along the shore.

A large number of hands-on stations, games, and experiments invite participation: for instance, you can listen to bird songs, feel fur, or examine snail shells under a magnifying glass. If you're curious about how stuffed animals are made, you can learn about it at the taxidermist's worktable. You can relax and browse through a colorful selection of children's books in the cozy moss bed while listening to various forest sounds or just unwind.

 

Geology

In the geological section at the very top under the museum's roof, questions like "Can rocks glow?", "Is a pencil made of lead?", or "Is there a silver treasure in the Black Forest?" are answered vividly and in detail here as well.

Is time travel even possible? Yes, with us! With the time machine, you can journey to different geological eras. You step in, choose an era, and zoom off, for example, to the Carboniferous period. Upon arrival, you learn about the landscape, climate, and flora and fauna of that time.

Next up is the reconstructed gallery: here you'll learn that coal, iron ore, and even silver were mined in numerous pits near Offenburg.

Finally, you enter the exhibition's treasure trove, the mineral cabinet. Here, you can admire beautiful minerals with melodious names like agate, limonite, or psilomelane, shimmering in all colors and occurring in bizarre forms. Some of these minerals even glow under blacklight.

The permanent exhibition Forest - Land - River encourages exploring interesting connections and asking new questions. Sensory, colorful, exciting, and informative, the presentation offers a suitable platform for youthful curiosity and creates a stimulating and child-friendly space that adults will also enjoy. The exhibition answers all questions vividly and with lively texts, many of which can be heard on the audioguide, available for free at the information desk.

The exhibition is bilingual in German and French.

 

Closed on Mondays
Tue-Sun 10 am - 5 pm

Permanent Exhibition Urban History

The urban history exhibition showcases the political and economic path of Offenburg from the 1848 Revolution to the economic miracle of the 1950s and 60s.

With the beginning of the 1848 Revolution, the urban history exhibition also starts, taking the visitor through the times of upheaval and change in Offenburg and the region.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Offenburg is a small town with just under 2,400 inhabitants. 170 years later, there are already 33,000 citizens. During this period, the city experiences industrialization, two revolutions, three wars, two inflations, emigration and immigration, dictatorship, and democratic new beginnings.

Four main themes are focused on:

• History of democracy

• Migration

• Mobility

• Economic history

The exhibition showcases the political and economic path of Offenburg into modernity, from the 1848 Revolution to the economic miracle of the 1950s and 60s. It combines treasures from the collections with modern media and playful elements, such as an animation on emigration to North America, audio stations, and film sequences.



Photo: Karl Schlessmann

Closed on Mondays
Tue-Sun 10 am - 5 pm

Playing, laughing, being loud, romping, doing nothing – and that in an exhibition house! From September 4, 2024, BAUBAU invites exactly that. In the play space for children designed by artist Kerstin Brätsch, more is allowed than forbidden. Colorful wallpapers, structures, objects, and a range of “Loose Parts” form spaces on the ground floor of the Gropius Bau that do not impose fixed guidelines but are determined by the activities of the children. They dictate the direction and form of what happens here. Thus, this place becomes a space of possibilities that can change day by day.

BAUBAU will launch in September 2024 in a prototype version and will continue to develop and grow over the coming years both inside and outside the Gropius Bau – in close exchange with the children and their wishes, as this is their place.

The Play
All children have the urge to play. This is how they learn to understand themselves and the world. Especially open, self-determined play is of great significance for emotional and social development. The educational concept for BAUBAU is therefore based on the principles of free play: Here, there is time, space, and permission for children to follow their own needs and interests. They are accompanied by playworkers – trained staff who create a safe and supportive environment where children can play freely.

 
The Art
BAUBAU playfully questions what a museum or an art institution should be. The comprehensive spatial design developed by Kerstin Brätsch is full of references and inspirations: elements from her previous works, such as marbling, paintings, or stucco marble work, reappear here in altered forms and materialities. The wallpapers, curtains, fabrics, seating furniture, and climbing structures are inhabited by dinosaurs, fantastical beings, termite mounds, and abstract elements. With their strange, funny, and perhaps a bit eerie shapes, they create an open framework for free play.

Kerstin Brätsch's practice is designed to allow and incorporate influences from outside. While she has previously collaborated with artists or artisans, she now does so in a completely different way with children: She invites the children to reshape and further develop the space according to their own ideas and visions, without the influence of the artist in unpredictable ways.

Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri 12:00–18:00
Sat, Sun 11:00–18:00
Tue closed

The main building of the State Kunsthalle Karlsruhe is closed for extensive renovation. However, significant parts of the collection are now visible to the public again – as guests at the ZKM | Karlsruhe.

The Kunsthalle showcases paintings and sculptures spanning from the late Middle Ages to the present on around 2000 sqm – a cross-section of the collection featuring popular masterpieces by Matthias Grünewald and Hans Baldung Grien, by Rembrandt, Rubens, and Chardin, by Cézanne, Gauguin, and Beckmann, Max Ernst, René Magritte, and Joan Miró, as well as works by Gerhard Richter, Pia Fries, and Karin Sander.

In the public tour, you will learn about the production of Meissen porcelain at various workstations in the show workshop. After the tour, you can individually visit the Museum of the Meissen Porcelain Foundation.

Using traditional techniques, all Meissen porcelain is still produced today by hand. The tour through the show workshop provides insights into manufacturing and design.

The tour takes place at 11:30 & 12:30.

In performative video works, some of them community productions with Tiago Mata Machado, the Brazilian artist Cinthia Marcelle isolates everyday, routine movements and work processes from their functional and production-oriented context. The mostly collaboratively participatory situations are transformed into poetic, metaphorical images that put established routines of social interaction and a performance-oriented logic of modern societies into question.

The exhibition Bodies in Motion – Form in the Making contextualizes the performative, mostly based on simple action instructions performance-based video works of Cinthia Marcelle for the first time with icons of the American post-minimalist dance and performance practice of the 1960s/70s such as Yvonne Rainer, Bruce Nauman, Suzanne Harris, and the performative-participatory approach of the minimalist sculptures of the German artist Charlotte Posenenske.

The exhibition is curated by Anna Roberta Goetz.