About Us

Sammlungen — © Blick in die Sammlujng, © Museum Folkwang

The Folkwang idea, coined by Karl Ernst Osthaus at the beginning of the 20th century, encompasses three central guidelines: the dialogue of the arts and cultures, the museum as a place of exchange and cultural education, and the unity of art and life. Conscious of its own museum and collection history, the Museum Folkwang carries this idea forward into the present and the future: we see ourselves as a museum that combines emotion and spirit, warmth and humanism, that is regionally rooted and internationally oriented, that places people and their imagination at the centre and is open to new developments. A museum that unites not only the arts with each other, but also the people with the arts.

OWNERSHIP

Following the death of Kart Ernst Osthaus the art collection of the Folkwang Museum he had founded in Hagen in 1902 was acquired in 1922 by way of a joint initiative by local Essen citizens and the City of Essen, who founded the association Folkwang-Museumsverein to transact their business. The merging of the Folkwang collection in Hagen with the municipal Art Museum in Essen formed the basis for the internationally renowned collection of Museum Folkwang.

Team

Stellen angebote

Architecture

Museum Folkwang, Essen

© Sebastian Drüen

In 2010, the new building designed by David Chipperfield Architects gave the Museum Folkwang a striking appearance and large additional exhibition spaces. Today, the Chipperfield building sets a strong urban accent and joins the ranks of internationally renowned museum buildings.

CHRONICLE

1897–1921

Folkwang Museum Hagen

1901–1921

Städtisches Kunstmuseum Essen

SINCE 1922

Museum Folkwang, Essen