Museum Peter August Böckstiegel

In the location's words:

To mark the 125th birthday of the artist Peter August Böckstiegel on April 7, 2014, the district of Gütersloh decided to build a museum in the immediate vicinity of Böckstiegel's birthplace in Werther-Arrode.

In December 2014, the foundation stone for this project was laid with an architectural competition on a former Böckstiegel family cornfield. Out of 314 designs submitted, h.s.d. Architekten from Lemgo, whose concept was developed by Prof. André Habermann, came out on top. In addition to a large exhibition space, the museum also includes a café, areas for art education as well as storage and depot rooms.

Thanks to generous support from families, companies from the district of Gütersloh and the city of Bielefeld as well as the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL), the building was completed between 2016 and 2018. These contributions made it possible to double the museum's floor space by adding a basement, thus fulfilling the Peter August Böckstiegel Foundation's aim of providing optimal conditions for Böckstiegel's works and his visitors, as well as harmoniously embedding them in the surrounding landscape, which continues to form the heart of the complex. The new museum building was officially opened in 2018.

The ensemble of historic birthplace and modern new building was harmoniously integrated into the outdoor area by the Oberhausen planning group. Visual axes and the fruit trees in the meadow are reminiscent of the original cultural landscape and give the building ensemble the impression of a "boulder in the meadow". The choice of materials for the new building is particularly valuable: the façade made of Franconian shell limestone and the oak frames on the large window areas create a lively contrast to the deliberately modern interior design.