Zentrum für verfolgte Künste

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The museum's roots go back to the 1990s: after the racist attacks of those years, the Else-Lasker-Schüler-Gesellschaft in Wuppertal campaigned for a place that would honor persecuted artists of all disciplines together, and in 1994 it set up a foundation for burned and banished poets. At the same time, the collector Gerhard Schneider was assembling thousands of works of figurative art by painters who had been lost from view as a result of National Socialism, war, and the division of Germany.

In 2004 the Bürgerstiftung für verfolgte Künste (citizens' foundation for persecuted arts) was established with Schneider's collection; through the operating company of the Kunstmuseum, the city of Solingen provided it with permanent space in the former Gräfrath town hall. In 2007 the literature collection of journalist Jürgen Serke was added; his book on the "burned poets" had sparked the rediscovery of these writers. After the two foundations merged, the Landschaftsverband Rheinland and the city of Solingen formed a joint company, and the center officially opened in December 2015. Jürgen Kaumkötter has been its director since 2019.

On around 700 square meters, the museum shows paintings, drawings made in camps, works created in exile, books, letters, and photographs, including an important collection of drawings by Else Lasker-Schüler. It sees itself as a museum of discovery and enlightenment that examines mechanisms of persecution and exclusion up to the present day, and it complements its collections with temporary exhibitions, online projects, and educational programs.

Highlights

• Gerhard Schneider art collection on the "forgotten generation" of modernism
• Drawings and picture collages by Else Lasker-Schüler
• Literature exhibition "Die verbrannten Dichter" (The Burned Poets) from the Jürgen Serke collection
• Camp drawings, including works by Carl Rabus and Leo Breuer
• Public Sunday guided tours included in admission

Permanent exhibitions

• Entdeckte Moderne – Kunstsammlung Gerhard Schneider – Works by ostracized and forgotten artists from World War I to the GDR era, including camp drawings, works from exile, and drawings by Else Lasker-Schüler. The upper floor is currently closed due to water damage.
• Himmel und Hölle zwischen 1918 und 1989. Die verbrannten Dichter – The literature exhibition on the first floor shows first editions, letters, and photos of writers who stood up against dictatorships, collected by Jürgen Serke.

Founded

2015

Operated by

Zentrum für verfolgte Künste GmbH (Gesellschafter: Stadt Solingen und Landschaftsverband Rheinland)

Director

Jürgen Kaumkötter

Admission & discounts

Free admission also for refugees (e.g. with proof of arrival, refugee travel document, or residence permit), members of ICOM, the Deutscher Museumsbund, the Bundesverband Museumspädagogik, the Verband der Kunsthistoriker, and the Restauratorenverband, as well as the press. Separate admission, independent of the Kunstmuseum Solingen in the same building.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• 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

Wheelchair access via the side entrance by prior arrangement; all approaches are paved with cobblestones. Step-free washrooms and accessible restroom in the basement. Parking directly in front of the building.

Kids & families

The educational programs are aimed mainly at school classes from grade 8.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

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

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit