Museum Abteiberg

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The museum's beginnings date back to around 1900: following early municipal collecting initiatives, 1904 is considered the official founding year of the Städtisches Museum, which at the time moved into a former elementary school on the Fliescherberg. In 1922 Walter Kaesbach, a native of Mönchengladbach, donated a collection of Expressionist art to his hometown; it passed to the city in 1928 and laid the foundation for a museum of contemporary art. In 1937 the Nazis confiscated most of it as “degenerate art”.

From 1967 onward, director Johannes Cladders turned the museum on Bismarckstraße into an internationally recognized place for experimentation. He organized the first major museum exhibition of Joseph Beuys and showed artists such as Marcel Broodthaers, Gerhard Richter, Daniel Buren and Hanne Darboven early on. In 1972 he chose the Viennese architect Hans Hollein to design a new building.

The Museum Abteiberg opened on June 23, 1982, on the slope below the Münster church. Hollein composed a tower, temple-like structures and galleries with sawtooth roofs into a small city within the city, regarded as a key work of postmodernism; in 1985 he received the Pritzker Prize.

The collection focuses on art since 1960, from Pop, Minimal and Concept Art to Zero and Nouveau Réalisme, with artist rooms devoted to Beuys, Polke, Richter and Mike Kelley, among others. It also includes the Etzold Collection of early computer graphics and, since 2017, the Fluxus holdings of the SAMMLUNG/ARCHIV ANDERSCH. The municipal museum is directed by Susanne Titz.

Highlights

• Postmodern museum building by Hans Hollein (1982), Pritzker Prize winner in 1985
• Works by Joseph Beuys, including “Revolutionsklavier” (Revolution Piano) and “Aggregat”
• Sigmar Polke's “6 Kunststoffsiegel-Bilder” and Gerhard Richter's “8 Graue Bilder” (8 Gray Pictures)
• Original rooms from Gregor Schneider's “Haus u r”
• Terraced sculpture garden below the Münster church
• Fluxus holdings of the SAMMLUNG/ARCHIV ANDERSCH

Permanent exhibitions

• Sammlungspräsentation – Across some 3,500 m², the museum shows changing selections from its collection of art since 1960, with artist rooms devoted to Beuys, Polke and Richter, among others, in dialogue with Hollein's architecture. Audio tracks on selected works are available online in German and English.
• Skulpturengarten – The terraced garden on the Abteiberg brings together sculptures from the past five decades, some created specifically for the site.

Founded

1904

Operated by

Stadt Mönchengladbach

Director

Susanne Titz

Admission & discounts

Free admission: every first Sunday of the month (“Erster Sonntag” with guided tours and an open painting class)

Combination ticket with Museum Schloss Rheydt and TextilTechnikum €12, reduced €10 (valid on the day of purchase and the following day). Public guided tours and art talks are included in admission. Free admission for, among others, members of the Museumsverein (museum association), ICOM and Deutscher Museumsbund, holders of the City of Mönchengladbach's social or volunteer ID, and teachers preparing lessons.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• 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

Main entrance on Abteistraße at ground level (doorbell at wheelchair height; ticket desk staff open the glass doors). The exhibition levels are connected by ramps and an elevator (80 × 160 cm); wheelchair-accessible restroom on the lower level, accessible museum café, folding stools at the cloakroom. One accessible parking space about 20 m in front of the entrance. The entrance from the upper plaza level is not accessible; according to the city portal, the pyramid room also cannot be reached by wheelchair. The sculpture garden is step-free but lies on a slope.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Playground / play area
• Kids’ birthday parties

On the first Sunday of the month, a family day with free admission, short guided tours and an open painting class for children and teens; plus children's tours, courses and multi-day holiday workshops (e.g. for ages 6 to 11 or 12 and up). Children's birthday parties with a guided tour, hands-on activities and games in the painting class room. In the museum café, children can play and draw on the gallery.

Getting there & parking

Due to changes in traffic routing, access via Steinmetzstraße or Alter Markt is no longer possible; enter Berliner Platz 15 as your navigation destination.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant: not available
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

Museum café in the original Hollein interior, overlooking the sculpture garden – self-service vending machines for hot drinks and snacks; on the Erster Sonntag (first Sunday), hosted by the Museumsverein. Museum shop with catalogs, editions and postcards (orders also by email). Bags and backpacks go in lockers.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 100 guests.

Green lecture hall (100 seats, stage and technical equipment), round classroom (24 seats) and museum café with terrace (receptions up to 60, simple conference catering for up to 100 people); exclusive opening of the whole museum on Mondays or in the evening from 18:00. Civil wedding ceremonies on four dates per year; catering by three Mönchengladbach restaurants.

Plan your visit