Wiedenbrücker Schule Museum

About the museum

The museum commemorates the Wiedenbrücker Schule, a network of more than 25 workshops and studios which, between the 1850s and the 1930s, produced applied art in the historicist style in the Westphalian small town – mainly church furnishings, but also secular art and furniture. It began in 1854 with the art joiner Franz Anton Goldkuhle; his commissions soon attracted further specialized firms, whose works were sold as far as America, Japan and Africa.

The museum is housed in the former altarpiece workshop of Diedrichs & Knoche, completed in 1905, on the edge of the old town. The owners had gone deeply into debt building the workshop and their residence, today's Künstlerhaus on Rietberger Straße. When orders declined, the business had to close, and the buildings were sold shortly after Bernhard Diedrichs died in 1912. Later a furniture company used the premises; in the Nazi era they served as a meeting place, after 1947 as housing for war refugees, and then for foreign workers.

The Stiftung Ausstellungs- und Begegnungsstätte Wiedenbrücker Schule was founded in December 2005 and the museum project began. The workshop was thoroughly converted by the end of 2008, and in November 2008 the museum moved in. The exhibition is devoted to the art history of historicism and to the town history of Rheda-Wiedenbrück; the house also holds archives on the artists August Bücker and Anton Becker-Brockhinke. Since October 2017, art historian Christiane Hoffmann has led the museum.

Highlights

• Historicist applied arts from the Wiedenbrück workshops
• Town history of Rheda-Wiedenbrück
• Former altarpiece workshop of 1905 with the Diedrichs & Knoche artists' house
• Children's audio guide with the apprentice Josef
• Archives on August Bücker and Anton Becker-Brockhinke

Permanent exhibitions

• Wiedenbrücker Schule – Kunsthandwerk des Historismus – The permanent exhibition shows how Wiedenbrück workshops furnished churches and living rooms in the historicist style in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Stadtgeschichte Rheda-Wiedenbrück – One part of the exhibition links the regional history of Westphalia with the history of the town and its craft businesses.

Founded

2008

Operated by

Stiftung Ausstellungs- und Begegnungsstätte Wiedenbrücker Schule

Director

Christiane Hoffmann

Admission & discounts

Schools and daycare centers of the town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück have free group admission; a booked guided tour is required.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide

Children's audio guide from third grade, family ticket, and museum education programs for schools and daycare centers.

Getting there & parking

By car via the A 2, exit 23 Rheda-Wiedenbrück, and the B 64. By bike, the museum is 100 m from the junction Ägidienwall/Rietberger Straße on the Ems route; an e-bike charging station with four spaces is available during opening hours (bring your own plug; donations welcome).

Amenities & dining

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Events & venue rental

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