Kestner Gesellschaft

Current exhibitions

About the museum

In the middle of World War I, in 1916, citizens of Hannover – including entrepreneurs such as Hermann Bahlsen, August Madsack and Fritz Beindorff – founded the city’s second art association. Named after the diplomat and art collector August Kestner, it was meant to bring the international avant-garde to Hannover. In its very first years, artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, Käthe Kollwitz and Kurt Schwitters exhibited here; directors Erich Küppers and Alexander Dorner shaped a new understanding of exhibitions and art education.

After 1933, the association came under growing pressure from Nazi cultural policy. When the dismissal of its Jewish director Justus Bier was forced, the Kestner Gesellschaft had to close in 1936. Its former building on Königstraße was destroyed in the war.

A new beginning came in 1948 in premises on Warmbüchenstraße. Over the following decades, with exhibitions on Picasso, Duchamp, Sol LeWitt, Eva Hesse, Andy Warhol and Rebecca Horn among others, the society grew into an internationally recognized institution.

In 1997 the association moved into the former Goseriedebad, an Art Nouveau indoor swimming pool from 1905 in the city center, which was converted to plans by the firm Koch Panse and received the BDA Prize (German architects’ award) for the project. Since then, on more than 1,300 square meters, the Kestner Gesellschaft has shown solo and group exhibitions of contemporary art, featuring artists such as Thomas Ruff, Barbara Kruger, Alex Katz and Karla Black.

Highlights

• Exhibition venue in the converted Art Nouveau Goseriedebad from 1905
• Domed hall on the upper floor as an impressive exhibition space
• More than 100 years of exhibition history, from Kandinsky and Schwitters to the present
• Free admission every Friday
• Art education for children in the kestnerkids program

Founded

1916

Operated by

Kestner Gesellschaft e.V.

Director

Eva Birkenstock

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission every Friday

Members free. Free admission also with ID from ADKV, Art Plus, other art associations, the Ehrenamtskarte (volunteer card), Historisches Museum Hannover, ICOM and Museums Card.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Almost fully accessible: entrance via a ramp, elevator and accessible restroom in the building.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Children’s and family program “kestnerkids” with active exhibition visits together and hands-on creative activities; dates via the kestnerkids newsletter.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Wi-Fi

Self-service café Tender Buttons on the upper floor (coffee and soft drinks, during opening hours; a new operator is being sought). Bookshop with magazines and books. Free Wi-Fi (code at the reception desk).

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Corporate events

Up to 200 guests.

Around 1,100 m² on two levels: halls 1–4 for 100–200 people each, hall 5 for up to 50, foyer and Café Tender Buttons for up to 80 people each; equipment, furniture, kitchen and exhibition tours can be booked. Combined capacity not stated.

Plan your visit