Wilhelm-Hack-Museum

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The Cologne businessman and collector Wilhelm Hack (1899–1985) showed his art collection publicly for the first time in Düsseldorf in 1969 and announced that he wanted to donate it as the foundation of a museum. The City of Ludwigshafen successfully sought the gift: in 1971 the city council accepted the endowment, and in 1973 the collection passed into municipal ownership. Hack connected this with the wish to give broad sections of the population access to art, especially in an industrial city.

Following an architectural competition won by the Stuttgart architects Hagstotz and Kraft, construction began in 1975 with support from the state. The museum, with its open, glazed architecture, opened on April 28, 1979. Joan Miró designed the solid southeast wall with a colorful ceramic facade that became the museum's landmark. In 2008/09 the building was renovated for energy efficiency.

The collection comprises around 10,000 works from the Middle Ages to the present. Hack's endowment contributed early medieval finds and outstanding works of classical modernism, for example by Malevich, Delaunay, Macke and Mondrian. The municipal collection adds art from the Palatinate and Expressionism; after 1979 Concrete Art was added, and in 1989 the Heinz Beck donation brought Pop Art and Fluxus.

Alongside changing special exhibitions and collection presentations rearranged every year, the museum runs the Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie in the Hemshof district, the community garden hack-museumsgARTen and the street art project MURALU in the city.

Highlights

• Ceramic wall by Joan Miró on the museum facade
• Works by Malevich, Popova, Delaunay, Macke and Mondrian from the Wilhelm Hack endowment
• Concrete Art by artists including Max Bill, Vera Molnar and François Morellet
• Heinz Beck Pop Art and Fluxus collection
• Urban gardening project hack-museumsgARTen
• Street art project MURALU across Ludwigshafen

Permanent exhibitions

• Sammlungspräsentation – The collection galleries are rearranged every year with changing focuses, showing works from classical modernism to the present.

Founded

1971

Operated by

Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein

Director

René Zechlin

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission on Saturdays

Free admission also for kindergartens, school classes and members of the friends' association, and during renovation phases; the Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie is always free. Discounts with the Rheinpfalz-Card and art-Card. Private guided tours €85 (60 min.) or €120 (90 min.), in a foreign language €100/€150, each plus reduced admission per person. Cash or EC (debit) card payment, no credit cards.

Accessibility

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

Step-free main entrance and ticket desk (doors not automatic, staff will help); two elevators; loan wheelchair, folding stools and children's stroller at the ticket desk; accessible restroom in the basement; museum lounge reachable only via six steps; accessible parking spaces opposite the entrance. Inclusive tours in Easy Language (Leichte Sprache), sign language and for people with visual impairments, regularly or on request. The Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie is not accessible.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Stroller-friendly
• Kids’ birthday parties

Regular family days with interactive tours and workshops; "Klecksstrolche" for 4- to 6-year-olds and an open studio on Saturdays at 14:00 for 6- to 12-year-olds. Children's birthday parties from age 5 (120 or 180 minutes, registration two weeks in advance). Child stroller available to borrow at the ticket desk; two elevators.

Getting there & parking

From Mannheim, cross the Konrad-Adenauer-Brücke (B 37), take the exit "Wilhelm-Hack-Museum" right after the Rhine, and follow the signs.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

Museum shop of the Förderkreis; bags must go in a locker.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit