Post-war art in Recklinghausen began with a provisional but high-quality exhibition in 1947 in the still empty grocery store floor of the Althoff department store in Recklinghausen. On the initiative of Franz Große-Perdekamp, former director of the Vestisches Museum, and Thomas Grochowiak, painters from the Ruhr and Weser gathered here for a joint exhibition. Subsequently, it served as the initial spark for the founding of the artists' group “junger westen” in order to bundle regional artistic forces. Correspondingly, the city of Recklinghausen announced the accompanying art prize of the same name, which was to culminate in an exhibition including the prize-winning works. True to the motto “If you want to show art, you need space”, Große-Perdekamp and Grochowiak presented the city with the proposal to convert the high-rise bunker at the main railway station into an art venue. The so-called demilitarization of the bunker began in mid-1949. This included the interior architectural conversion, with the creation of a 900m² exhibition space spread over three floors. In addition, window openings were blasted into the concrete façade at both the front and rear of the building. While the windows in the rear part of the bunker were bricked up again at a later date for structural measures, the front of the building remains in its original state, at least architecturally, with some temporary closures and openings in the row of windows on the first floor. The original plan also included the decorative display of a pair of larger-than-life sculptures on the façade, which were to flank one side of each window. However, this detail was never realized. Nevertheless, some artists have made use of it, for example Stefan Pietryga in 2015, or most recently Flo Kaserau, who installed a bust of herself on the façade as part of her exhibition Flos Retrospective 2022. Still located in Viktoriastrasse at the time¹, the new Kunsthalle was transferred to the use of the city of Recklinghausen on April 1, 1950. Originally, the first exhibition in the new Kunsthalle was to be dedicated to the “young west”. The opening was planned for 1949. “The disappointment regarding the delay in the completion of the exhibition hall at the main railway station must be mentioned here. As we informed our readers a few days ago, this was to be obtained from the former high bunker. An exhibition of the Young West was to be opened here at the end of November [1949]. For the reasons we know, however, it must be expected that the new exhibition hall will not be opened before February or March [1950]."² Instead of February or March, the Kunsthalle did not celebrate its opening until June 1950. The first exhibition shown was also the first show corresponding to the Ruhr Festival. Under the direction of Große-Perdekamp and Grochowiak, the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen made a successful debut in 1950 with German and French contemporary art. The “junger westen” show followed from September 10 to October 8, 1950. Over the years, the architecture of the building and its history as a former high-rise bunker were repeatedly taken up by artists. Tadashi Kawamata, for example, made the middle floor his own, cladding the concrete ceiling with wood and extending it unceremoniously into the outside space. In 2011, the refurbishment of the Kunsthalle was funded by the second economic stimulus package from the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The façade of the building, which had previously been painted sky blue, was given a new coat of paint in keeping with its history, so that the anthracite-colored façade now blends harmoniously into the overall appearance of the surrounding buildings.
- Viktoriastrasse (called Bahnhofsalle from 1939 to 1945) was renamed Große-Perdekamp-Strasse in 1962 in honor of Franz Große Perdekamp, who died on 30.12.1952, and since then has reflected his influence on the development of the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen.
- hj. Recklinghäuser Zeitung, 22.11.1949
Results of the Forschungsvolontariate NRW 23/24
The Forschungsvolontariate NRW 23/24, funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science NRW, dealt with the collection and exhibition history of the Kunsthalle Recklinghausen in the 1950s and thus the first decade at the museum.
Research trainee: Lara Müller, M.A.