Collections

Ever since opening its doors in 1991, the Weserburg has been exhibiting art from several national and international private collections. They convey the lively diversity of contemporary art in a unique manner. Unlike public institutions, private collectors rely completely their own judgment. By following their personal ideas and passions, these individuals create collections with a distinctive character.

While some collections follow the work of specific artists over decades or show an enthusiasm about a particular art movement, others are in a constant search of certain themes and motifs or aim at the relationships that arise between different positions. In this way, the Weserburg creates a space in which different points of view can meet and be publicly discussed.

The museum has been cooperating closely with most of the collections for many years. The mutual trust that has developed enables us to share these various aspects of the collections with an interested audience in large-scale special exhibitions as well as in smaller presentations.

Currently Exhibited Collections

  • Sammlung Weserburg
  • Sammlung Lafrenz
  • Sammlung Finkenberg
  • Sammlung Gerstner
  • Sammlung Maria und Walter Schnepel
  • Sammlung Dominic und Cordula Sohst-Brennenstuhl
  • Sammlung von Kelterborn
  • Sammlung Ivo Wessel
  • Sammlung Reydan Weiss
  • Miettinen Collection
  • Sammlung Christian Kaspar Schwarm
  • Art’Us Collectors’ Collective
  • Nachlass Irmgard Gaertner-Fichtner
  • Sammlung Brigitte und Udo Seinsoth
  • Art Collection Telekom
  • Sammlung Haus N
  • Collection of R F Jefferies
  • Sammlung Wolfgang Schoppmann
  • Sammlung Gaby und Wilhelm Schürmann
  • Spiegelberger Stiftung
  • Sammlung Ridder
  • Sammlung Wemhöner
  • Sammlung Gräfling
  • SK Stiftung
  • Sammlung Reininghaus
  • Sammlung Karin und Uwe Hollweg
  • Sammlung NordLB
  • Nieto Collection
  • Sammlung Haubrok

Chronology

Serving as an important basis for the Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst have always been the Sammlung Lafrenz with works of Minimal Art, Conceptual Art and Arte Povera; the quite personal Sammlung Karl Gerstner with major works of Fluxus and Nouveau Réalisme;  and the collections of the Centre for Artists’ Publications, which are unique in Europe for their quality and extent. Furthermore, the Weserburg possesses its own small but impressive collection with important, in some cases space-encompassing works by Rebecca Horn, Hans Otte and Jochen Gerz.

Long-term partnerships and collaborations with private and corporate collections complement the museum’s profile with individual loans, larger groups of artworks and specially realized exhibition projects. One aspect of the fundamental conception involves judicious transformation wherein selected collections enter into a relationship with the Weserburg and sometimes replace older collections. Thus the Weserburg remains in a double sense a museum in flow – a museum which, with its collections and works, brings to light current developments in art and society and thereby introduces them into public discussion.

 

  • Sammlung Weserburg since 1989
  • Sammlung Künstlerbücher since 1991. The Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst possesses a collection of artists’ publications and documents on a scale that is unique in Europe. The Centre for Artists’ Publications serves as an archive, research institute and exhibition site in equal measure. It includes numerous archives, bequests  and collections with far more than 300,000 published or reproduced works of art from throughout the world. From the very beginning, the Archive for Small Press & Communication (ASPC) has formed the basic stock.
  • Sammlung Lafrenz since 1991
  • Sammlung Finkenberg since 1991
  • Sammlung Gerstner since 1991, since 2018 as a loan from a private collection
  • Sammlung Böckmann since 1991
  • Sammlung Sylvia und Ulrich Ströher since 1991
  • ACT Art Collection / Siegfried Loch since 1991
  • Sammlung Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung Hannover since 1991
  • IFA – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Stuttgart since 1991
  • Sammlung Lenz/Schönberg 1991 – 1992
  • Sammlung Dobermann 1991 – 1995
  • Sammlung Pohl 1991 – 1996
  • Sammlung Vanhaerents 1991 – 1997
  • Sammlung Ackermeier 1991 – 2003
  • Stiftung Ludwig-Roselius-Museum 1991 – 2004, 2004 – 2011 part of Sammlung Weserburg
  • Sammlung Grothe 1991 – 2005, since 2005 part of Sammlung Ströher
  • Sammlung Stober 1991 – 2005
  • Sammlung Onnasch 1991 – 2005
  • Sammlung Meyer 1991 – 2006
  • Sammlung Bürger 1998- 2018
  • Olbricht Collection 2001 – 2019
  • Sammlung Maria und Walter Schnepel since 2002
  • Sammlung Reinking 2002- 2015
  • Sammlung Goetz since 2003
  • Sammlung Volker Schmidt 2014 – 2020
  • Sammlung Dominic und Cordula Sohst-Brennenstuhl since 2014
  • Sammlung von Kelterborn since 2014
  • Sammlung Ivo Wessel since 2015
  • Sammlung Reydan Weiss since 2016
  • Miettinen Collection since 2017
  • Sammlung Christian Kaspar Schwarm since 2017
  • Sammlung Florian Peters-Messer since 2018
  • Art’Us Collectors’ Collective since 2018
  • Erling Kagge Collection since 2018
  • Nachlass Irmgard Gaertner-Fichtner since 2018
  • Sammlung Karin und Uwe Hollweg since 2018
  • Art’Us Collectors’ Collective since 2019
  • Erling Kagge Collection since 2019
  • Sammlung Brigitte und Udo Seinsoth since 2019
  • Art Collection Telekom since 2020
  • Sammlung Haus N since 2020
  • Collection of R F Jefferies since 2020
  • Sammlung Wolfgang Schoppmann since 2020
  • Sammlung Gaby und Wilhelm Schürmann since 2020
  • Spiegelberger Stiftung since 2020
  • Sammlung Ridder since 2020
  • Sammlung Wemhöner since 2021
  • Sammlung Gräfling since 2021
  • Sammlung Reininghaus since 2021
  • Nieto Collection since 2021
  • Sammlung Haubrok since 2021