LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen
Art museum in the Neoclassical Schloss Oberhausen with changing exhibitions on the Ludwig Collection, comics, illustration and photography.
About the museum
Schloss Oberhausen goes back to a medieval knight's seat that passed via the von der Hoven and von Boenen families to the Counts of Westerholt-Gysenberg. Between 1804 and about 1821, Maximilian Friedrich von Westerholt-Gysenberg had a Neoclassical manor house built to designs by August Reinking; the surrounding park was designed from 1808 by Maximilian Friedrich Weyhe. After the family moved away, the city of Oberhausen bought the park in 1896 and the palace in 1911.
In 1947 the Städtische Galerie under Herbert Griebitzsch moved into the building; at first it showed mainly Impressionists and international graphic art of the 19th and 20th centuries. The war damage to the palace was repaired in the 1950s. In the mid-1990s the building was given the name LUDWIGGALERIE and became a stage for the collection of Peter and Irene Ludwig; in 1998 the glass entrance building "Vitrine" by the firm Eller + Eller was added.
The Museum der Stadt Oberhausen works without a fixed permanent exhibition. It runs four program lines: thematic shows with works from the Ludwig Collection from antiquity to the present, the Populäre Galerie for comics, caricature and picture book illustration, the Lichtbildgalerie for photography, and the Landmarkengalerie on the structural change of the region. In 2017 the museum took over the estates of the photographer Rudolf Holtappel with about 360,000 negatives and of the artist Walter Kurowski with almost 4,000 works.
Highlights
- Neoclassical palace at the Kaisergarten
- Changing exhibitions with works from the Ludwig Collection
- Populäre Galerie for comics, caricature and picture book art
- Lichtbildgalerie for photography
- Glass entrance building "Vitrine" of 1998
- Founded
- 1947
- Operated by
- Stadt Oberhausen
- Director
- Christine Vogt
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €12 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €6School students aged 18 and over, university students, trainees, people with severe disabilities (from degree of disability 70), recipients of social benefits and unemployment benefit, members of certain art associations, holders of the Ehrenamtskarte (volunteer card) |
| Children & teens | freefree up to age 17 · Children and young people under 18 have free admission. |
| Visitors with disabilities | €6companion free · Reduced price from a degree of disability of 70; companion with "B" marker free. |
| Students & apprentices | €6 |
| Groups (10+ people) | €6 per personFrom 10 people €6 per person; small group ticket for 4 full-price payers €38.40. |
| Combination ticket with the Gasometer Oberhausen | €19Available only at the museum ticket desk. |
| Small group ticket (4 full-price payers) | €38.40 |
Free admission also for members of the friends' association, holders of the Art_O_thek card, members of ICOM and the Deutscher Museumsbund, press, and with the RUHR.TOPCARD and RUHRKULTUR.CARD. Online tickets are excluded from exchange and refund.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair accessible
- Elevator
- Accessible restroom
- Accessible parking
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
All three floors and the basement of the main building can be reached via a glass elevator (door width 90 cm, no audible floor announcement); the Kleines Schloss is at ground level. Accessible restrooms in the basement of the main building and in the Kleines Schloss. Loaner wheelchairs, low coat hooks and lockers available; accessible parking spaces in the immediate vicinity. The program also includes tours for people with dementia and their companions.
Kids & families
Great for kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 17 |
|---|
- Family tours & workshops
- Kids’ birthday parties
Open children's studio every Sunday at 11:00. Children's birthday parties from age 6 (120 minutes, €100 plus €1 admission per child). The municipal painting school offers semester courses for children and young people from age 4.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Schloss Oberhausen
From Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof take bus 956 (direction Goerdelerstraße) or 966 (direction Sterkrade Bf) to the stop Schloss Oberhausen.
By car
Parking available · 4-min walk · 350 m to the entrance
Parking directly at the palace; additional parking lot at Duisburger Straße 71, about 350 m or a 4–5 minute walk away.
- Accessible parking
By car via the A 42 (exit Oberhausen-Zentrum, turn right after 200 m) or the A 40 (exit Mülheim-Styrum, continue via the B 223). The palace is near CentrO and the Gasometer.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café
- Restaurant
- Museum shop
- Coat check
- Lockers
Restaurant, café and beer garden "Kaisergarten" in the side wing of the palace; museum shop; reading café.
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
- Private parties
- Weddings / ceremonies
Civil weddings in the wedding room in the northern semicircle of the palace (booking through the Oberhausen registry office). The Kaisergarten restaurant in the side wing rents out the halls "Graf Westerholt", "Prinzensaal" and "Ritterstube" for celebrations.
Inquiries & detailsPlan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 60 min |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Good to know | Public tour on Sundays and public holidays at 11:30, included in admission and without registration. Group tours of the current exhibition or on the history of the palace and gardens (each about 60 minutes, €60 plus €6 admission per person), combination tour 90 minutes (€90). Audio guides are available depending on the exhibition. School classes and daycare groups: dialogue-based tours and workshops Tue–Fri 10:00–14:30 (90 minutes €30, 180 minutes €60, each plus €1 per child). |
