For four decades, the Kunsthalle Emden has been a place where art is not only preserved, but also brought to life. When Henri and Eske Nannen realized their idea 40 years ago to make a private collection of beloved works accessible to the public, their personal passion gave rise to a museum with national appeal. Today, the Kunsthalle Emden is one of the most important art museums in northern Germany. With an outstanding collection of 20th-century art and—in particular thanks to the Otto van der Loos donation—21st-century art, as well as more than 150 special exhibitions, the museum has already welcomed over 2.5 million visitors.

In its anniversary year 2026, the Kunsthalle Emden is not only looking back, but also looking ahead. The exhibition "Pictures We Love" invites visitors to rediscover the museum's collection from April 26 onwards. Selected works unfold a panorama of central themes in art history over the past 150 years – from Expressionism and New Objectivity to art in Germany after 1945. Contemporary positions complement the presentation and bridge the gap to the present. The exhibition not only tells the story of art styles, but also of the history of the Kunsthalle itself: its origins, its development, and the companions who have shaped the museum. Their voices lend the show a personal dimension and reveal how closely art is linked to memory, identity, and passion.
from April 26, 2026

Max Beckmann, Portrait of Quappi in a Green Jumper, 1946, oil on canvas, Kunsthalle Emden Collection

Another exhibition will open in the spring, offering a fascinating thematic focus: the cabinet exhibition "AM HAFEN" , maritime imagery from the Kunsthalle Emden collection will encounter the works of Emden artist Bodo Olthoff. Around 20 works by artists including Lyonel Feininger, Emil Nolde, and Frans Masereel enter into dialogue with more than 40 seascapes by Olthoff, who has been exploring coastal landscapes, harbors, and humanity's ambivalent relationship with the sea in his art for decades. Olthoff's works combine personal experiences with art-historical references and regional memories. The port of Emden in particular—the cultural and historical center of the city for centuries—becomes a symbol of change in his work: from a place of seafaring to the destruction of World War II to the present day. In a poetic balance between figuration and abstraction, his works tell of vastness, movement, and the fascination of the horizon.
March 21 to August 2, 2026

With these two exhibitions, the Kunsthalle Emden is celebrating its anniversary not as a retrospective alone, but as a lively dialogue between past and present—a celebration of the images we love and those that fill us with wonder anew.
kunsthalle-emden.de