Through October 24, 2026
YOU ARE INVITED ! – Elke Siml
Installation by the 2026 artist in residence in the attic: floating porcelain plates and a machine-woven text drawn from Schiller and Luther revolve around invitation, sharing, and exclusion.
Kranich Museum
Museum of site-specific contemporary art centered on the crane, in the Gutshaus Hessenburg manor near Saal – also a hotel with park and café.
Opening hoursAdmission from €5 Café
Current exhibitions
About the museum
The Hessenburg estate lies amid the fields of northern Western Pomerania, where hundreds of cranes rest in spring and fall. A tower mound with a ring ditch recalls a 13th-century castle; at that time the place was called Schlechtemühl. Around 1840 the von Hesse family had the late Neoclassical manor house and a landscape park built and gave the estate its present name. The smithy, wheelwright's workshop, icehouse, and farm buildings have been preserved in their historic arrangement.
In fall 2011 the Kranich Museum opened in the restored manor house, curated by architect and artist Alex Schweder and art historian Kadija von Zinnenburg Carroll. The rooms were redesigned so that traces of every phase of use – from manor house to residential use in the GDR – remain visible. From 2015 to 2020 Zsuzsanna Stanitz served as curator, and since then Schweder has again; between 2015 and 2020 the estate was also renovated in keeping with heritage and ecological principles.
The museum commissions and collects works that take the house, the landscape, and the migratory crane as their starting point – installations, sound and video works, painting, and performance. An artist-in-residence program produces new works every year. The art is distributed throughout the museum rooms, the hotel apartments, and the park; a café in the old farm smithy invites visitors to take a break.
Highlights
- Site-specific contemporary art on the theme of the crane
- Manor house from around 1840, designed as a museum by Alex Schweder
- Estate park of around 4.5 hectares with outdoor art
- Annual artist-in-residence program
- Kranich-Café in the former farm smithy
Permanent exhibitions
- Sammlung ortsbezogener Gegenwartskunst – Works created for the house by artists including Alex Schweder, Andy Graydon, Hadley + Maxwell, and Emma Waltraud Howes, reflecting on architecture, landscape, and the crane.
- Founded
- 2011
- Director
- Bettina Klein
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €5 |
|---|---|
| Children & teens | €2.50Children up to age 16. |
The estate park is freely accessible.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Kids & families
The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Nearest train stations are Altenwillershagen (approx. 10 km, regional train) and Ribnitz-Damgarten West (approx. 17 km).
By car
Parking available
Parking on the estate grounds.
Take the B 105 and the L 211 to Saal; access to Hessenburg only via Schmiedeweg.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café
Kranich Café in the old estate forge (2026 season: Sat, Sun, and public holidays 12:00–17:00, last day October 24). Hotel apartments and a sauna in the manor house.
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
- Private parties
- Corporate events
- Weddings / ceremonies
Up to 80 guests.
Three conference rooms (33–41 m², 6–30 people), a yoga room, and a civil wedding venue (up to 30 people); Kranich-Café for celebrations of up to 48 people, up to 80 with an outdoor tent.
Inquiries & detailsPlan your visit
| Guided tours | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | Guided tours mainly on special event days (e.g., Open Gardens, Kunst heute). |
