Kunsthalle Barmen
The Kunsthalle Barmen is a research centre for art education and contemporary art at the University of Wuppertal set up for a three-year period. It is located in the former ‘Ruhmeshalle’, today’s ‘Haus der Jugend’ (Youth House). The Kunsthalle Barmen is an integrative institution focussing on research and teaching on art education and the exhibition of contemporary art.
Kunsthalle Barmen, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 4-6, 42275 Wuppertal
Visit
Kunsthalle Barmen
Sponsored by the University of Wuppertal in cooperation with the City of Wuppertal
Open:
Thurs: 10:00-19:00
Fri. 14:00-19:00
Sat. 14:00-19:00
Sun. 14:00-19:00
Special opening hours for performances and activities.
The Kunsthalle Barmen shares the building with the Haus der Jugend (Youth House) and the Stadtteilbibliothek (district library).
Google maps – description of location –>
Travelling by car:
Leave the A46 at the exit 36 (Wichlinghausen)
Continue straight ahead through the next traffic lights (Märkische Straße).
Follow the road down into the valley (Westkotter Straße/Bachstraße).
The road ends at the Wupper/Schwebebahn railway; please turn right here (Höhne).
After approx. 200 m, you reach the Geschwister-Scholl-Platz (on the right hand side).
Travelling by public transport:
The suspension monorail:
Please go off at the stop “Werther Brücke”
Leave the station on the left (Höhne). Cross the road at the traffic lights. Follow the pedestrian zone until you reach Geschwister-Scholl-Platz.
Train:
Station Wuppertal-Barmen. (Please take a connecting train from Wuppertal Main Station to Wuppertal Barmen). After getting off the train, please go to platform 3 and 4. Please do not use the main entrance.
Follow the platform to the steep staircase. Please walk the staircase up. Afterwards, please cross the road and keep in the left lane. Please cross the street “Höhne” and take the street “Geschwister-Scholl-Platz”. The “Haus der Jugend” (Youth House) is on the left-hand side.
We can only provide barrier-free access by prior arrangement. We endeavour to provide barrier-free access.
Contact
Kunsthalle Barmen, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 4-6, 42275 Wuppertal
kontakt@kunsthallebarmen.de
Press enquiries:
presse@kunsthallebarmen.de
Instagram: kunsthallebarmen
Concept
The history of Kunsthalle Barmen
Although the current concept is new, the ‘Haus der Jugend’ (Youth House) looks back on a long tradition. After the foundation of the ‘Barmer Kunstverein’ in 1866, there were various endeavours to establish a museum, which reached their conclusion in 1900 with the construction of the ‘Ruhmeshalle’ in the neo-Renaissance style. In addition to the statues of three emperors from the house of Hohenzollern, Wilhelm I, Friedrich III, Wilhelm II, the ‘Ruhmeshalle’ is also home to the municipal library of Wuppertal and the “Barmer Kunstverein”.
The latter subsequently developed into a flourishing avant-garde centre and exhibited avant-garde art with international appeal.
Deviating from the official cultural policy of the Hohenzollerns, artistic works by expressionists were shown in Barmen and a veritable collection was created.
In the 1920s, during the Weimar Republic, the Kunsthalle Barmen consolidated its reputation as a centre of avant-garde art.
When the towns of Elberfeld and Barmen were united to form the city of Wuppertal in 1929, the ‘Kunstverein Barmen’ and the ‘Städtisches Museum Elberfeld’, which is now the ‘Von der Heydt-Museum’, also moved closer together, while the ‘Ruhmeshalle’ retained its independence.
In 1937 the National Socialists confiscated 94 works from the collection as part of the Nazi’s ‘Degenerate Art’ campaign, including works by Jankel Adler, Walter Dexel, Otto Dix, Conrad Felixmüller, Erich Heckel and Karl Hofer, Alexej von Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Emmy Klinker, August Macke, Franz Marc, Ludwig Meidner, Carlo Mense, Wilhelm Morgner, Max Pechstein, Max Peiffer Watenphul, Ewald Platte, Anton Räderscheidt, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl Schwesig, etc.
During the Second World War, first the dome construction and then the entire ‘Ruhmeshalle’ was destroyed and damaged by vandalism. Thus, the remains of the imperial statues disappeared in the immediate post-war period.
In 1946, the “Kunstverein Barmen” and the “Elberfelder Museumsverein” joined and became the “Kunst- und Museumsverein (KMV)”, which is still responsible for the Kunsthalle Barmen today. At the end of the 1950s, the former ‘Ruhmeshalle’ was reopened in a modified building structure as the ‘Haus der Jugend’ (House of Youth). Since then, in addition to the Kunsthalle, it has also housed a youth centre and a district library.
During the buildings refurbishment between 2007 and 2011, the rooms of the Kunsthalle were fitted with a luminous ceiling. Since then, exhibitions by Bogomir Ecker, Valérie Favre, Sabine Moritz, Tobias Zielony and others have taken place in the “Von Der Heydt Kunsthalle”.
The new concept of Kunsthalle Barmen (2024-2027)
In 2024, the University of Wuppertal and the Kunsthalle Barmen signed a cooperation agreement for a limited period of three years. The Kunst- und Museumsverein will continue to exhibit in the rooms once a year. The new director of the Kunsthalle Barmen is visiting professor Isabelle Meiffert, while the new director of the LAB is Professor Katja Pfeiffer.
Participating institutions
The University of Wuppertal
“Understanding, communicating, shaping” (“Verstehen vermitteln gestalten”). This is the motto of the University of Wuppertal, an internationally renowned institution with 9 schools, around 21,500 students and 4,000 employees. Its 100 Erasmus partner universities and 70 collaborations with universities and companies form a global network, which is a benefit not only for international research projects, but also for teachers and more than 2,500 foreign students from more than 110 countries.
Located in the central Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, knowledge transfer and numerous partner organisations of the University of Wuppertal ensure constant, sustainable progress and cooperation with business and society, which is a great benefit to students. Furthermore, this situation encourages innovations and the creation of start-ups. The ‘Kunsthalle Barmen’ cooperation project launched in 2024 is an outstanding example of this self-image and commitment – this time by the School of Design and Art with its three departments of Industrial Design, Art and Media Design and Interior Design.
In this context, we are very grateful for the Dr. Jörg Mittelsten Scheid Visiting Professorship at the University of Wuppertal, which is awarded to different schools of the University of Wuppertal for a limited period of time and was allocated to Isabelle Meiffert at the School of Design and Art for this project in the summer semester of 2024.
Kunst- und Museumsverein Wuppertal
The Kunst- und Museumsverein Wuppertal (Wuppertal Art and Museum Association) is the Von der Heydt Museum’s patrons’ association and currently has over 2000 members. Its collection of numerous important works of art from the 17th century to the present day is part of the museum’s permanent collection. The association emerged from the Barmer Kunstverein, founded in 1866, and the Elberfelder Museumsverein, founded in 1892, which merged in 1946. Even before that, from 1932, both the museum and the Kunsthalle were managed by the director of the Elberfelder Museum. The Barmer Kunstverein was instrumental in financing the construction of the ‘Ruhmeshalle Barmen’ (1897-1900), today’s ‘Haus der Jugend’. From 1932, the gallery floor of the ‘Ruhmeshalle’ was the venue for its exhibitions and its constantly growing collection of modern art, which was one of the most prominent in Germany until it was largely destroyed by the National Socialists.
The central concerns of the Kunst- und Museumsverein are the promotion of fine arts and culture in general as well as the preservation of historical monuments. To this end, the association supports the diverse activities of the Von der Heydt Museum and contributes to the realisation of its exhibition and educational programme for all age and target groups. Due to its historical merits in the establishment of the Kunsthalle Barmen, it usually organises an exhibition in its rooms once a year.
The City of Wuppertal
Wuppertal has around 360,000 residents, making it 17th largest city in Germany. The Bergisch metropolis is a leading production location with the largest plier’s manufacturer in Europe, the international research centre of the world’s best-known pharmaceutical company, the most modern training centre for paints in Europe and a production site for the largest paint manufacturers in the world.
The University City is an important location of the automotive industry where development centres of world market leaders are based. W-tec, which is home to around 260 companies, is one of the largest technology centres in Germany. Around 50 % of the urban area is used for gardens, parks, forests and agriculture, including 490 km of hiking trails. The Wupper, which gives the city its name, flows 34 kilometres from east to west with a fall of 95 metres. Everyday approximately 85,000 passengers use the suspension monorail, which travels 13 km through the city. The 20 suspension railway stations include different architectural styles, from Art Nouveau to high tech. After a 35-minute drive, which is a worldwide unique experience, passengers can change to an ICE. The two areas Elberfeld and Barmen invite you to shop and stay for a while. You can cheer on multiple German champions in the climbing hall, when watching roller hockey or on the official downhill course when riding a mountain bike. Around 4,500 animals live at the Wuppertal Zoo, one of the most beautiful zoological gardens in Germany. At the zoo district and at the Brill district you can visit the biggest villa district in Germany.
Are you surprised? Welcome to Wuppertal.
The Kunsthalle Barmen is sponsored by:
Jackstädt Stiftung
InnenBandStadt
Sparkasse Wuppertal
Barmenia
Team
The Kunsthalle Barmen is a cooperative project and covers the different areas of the School of Design and Art (School 8) at the University of Wuppertal. Visiting professor Isabelle Meiffert is the artistic director of Kunsthalle Barmen. Professor Katja Pfeiffer is head of LAB whereas Professor Katharina Maderthaner is part of the university’s teaching staff. Professor AnneMarie Neser is responsible for the interior design and the architectural integration in the “Haus der Jugend” (House of Youth). The artistic employee Sebastian Bartel is responsible for developing the mediation programme and integrating the Kunsthalle into Barmen’s public life whereas the artistic employee Christoph Westermeier is the person in charge for the communication of Kunsthalle Barmen.
“The main questions are: What role play institutions in our society today; how can we reach our diverse neighbourhood and establish an inspiring place for physical exchange. I can’t wait to explore this experimentally and with artistic means!”
– Visiting professor Isabelle Meiffert, Künstlerische Leitung
“One of my major concerns is to awaken the interest for pictures and objects in as many people as possible. As part of a large network of disciplines as the University of Wuppertal, one of the tasks of the School of Art and Design is to attract the interest in design of people who are currently researching completely different things.
With our commitment to the Kunsthalle Barmen, we want to extend this mediation to urban society and make it accessible to an audience that, if it were up to us, cannot be diverse enough.’
– Professor Katja Pfeiffer, initiator and head of Kunsthalle Barmen LAB