HAUS DER KUNST

Description

Essentials about the Haus der Kunst in brief

Art lovers should pay a visit to the Haus der Kunst (House of the Arts) in Munich. Located in Prinzregentenstrasse at the southern end of the Englischer Garten (English Garden), the exhibition building shows retrospectives of contemporary and modern artists for lack of its own collection. The Haus der Kunst was built between 1933 and 1937 with Adolf Hitler’s personal involvement in the style of monumental neoclassicism as the “House of German Art”.

The history and architecture of the Haus der Kunst

The history of the Haus der Kunst is strongly linked to Adolf Hitler. In the early 1930s, several Munich artists’ associations planned a new exhibition house for their annual art exhibitions and other events. The new building was to be erected on the site of the burned-down Glass Palace in the Old Botanical Garden.

After Adolf Hitler became Reich Chancellor in January 1933, he scrapped the project immediately before the planned start of construction in spring 1933. He personally commissioned Paul Ludwig Troost, who had already rebuilt the NSDAP headquarters for Hitler, with a new design. The building site in the Old Botanical Garden was insufficient for Hitler’s monumental plans. He ordered the southern entrance to the Englischer Garten as the new location. In Nazi cultural policy, the building was intended to be the definitive exhibition building of the German Reich. The foundation stone of the new “House of German Art” was laid by Hitler himself on October 15, 1933.

The building opened on July 18, 1937 with the first “Great German Art Exhibition.” Despite the claim to be a temple of “German art,” thus of National Socialist art, the concept was commercial from the beginning. There was extensive catering and all exhibitions were mainly for sale, with Hitler as the main buyer, staging himself as a patron of the arts.

Those who would like to take a closer look at the history of the Haus der Kunst can visit the Archive Gallery in the central hall since 2014. Here you will find a collection of furnishings and displays documenting the history of the house. The focus is on the period of the Third Reich.

The exhibitions in the Haus der Kunst

Since the Haus der Kunst, as mentioned at the beginning, does not have its own collection but is purely an exhibition house, it has the opportunity to give artists plenty of space in temporary exhibitions. The works of world stars such as Ai Weiwei, Gilbert & George or Andreas Gursky are shown to their best advantage in the high rooms. A look at the exhibition program of the Haus der Kunst is thus always worthwhile. Those who are hungry or thirsty can fortify themselves in the Golden Bar in the rear part of the building. And Haus der Kunst is also one of the first places to go in Munich for night owls. Munich’s most famous discotheque – the P1 – is located in the basement of the building.