Archive

120 Years of Brücke. 120 Berliners. 120 Artworks

29. March to 
22. June 2025
Painting, two people in front of a dyke, signature: S-Rottluff 1910

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Deichdurchbruch, 1910, Öl auf Leinwand, Brücke-Museum, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025

1 of 5

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Artiste, 1910,Brücke-Museum

2 of 5

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, SchmidtRottluff (doorplate for the flat of Karl and Emy Schmidt-Rottluff at Schützallee 136, Berlin), 1954, wood, Brücke-Museum, Karl und Emy Schmidt-Rottluff Stiftung © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025

3 of 5

Erich Heckel, Man in his Younger Years (Self-Portrait), 1906 © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2019/Nachlass Erich Heckel, Hemmenhofen

4 of 5
The photo shows a carved wooden chair with figures and faces visible in the carvings

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Chair II, 1920

5 of 5
←
→

A major collection presentation celebrates the 120th anniversary of the Brücke artists’ group, the art of Expressionism and the Brücke-Museum.

 

On 7 June 1905, four young architecture students came together in Dresden to form the Brücke artists’ group: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Fritz Bleyl had no artistic training, but they confidently set out to revolutionise art together. The group of artists - who would later include Max Pechstein, Emil Nolde and Otto Mueller - called for innovative means of expression far removed from academic traditions and searched for new ways of working and living.

 

To celebrate the 120th anniversary of Brücke, the Brücke-Museum has invited 120 Berliners to choose their favourite work from the museum’s collection. People from public life, culture, politics and society were included, as were people from the museum’s neighbourhood. The resulting selection is a colourful mix of the museum’s collection of around 5.000 works, which includes paintings, watercolours, drawings, prints, sculptures and arts and crafts. Public favourites such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s Artistin and Erich Heckel’s early self-portrait can be seen alongside works that have never been shown before, such as the doorplate carved by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff.

 

The very different artworks in the exhibition are accompanied by a personal statement by the invited people. In this way, the Brücke-Museum collection can be discovered through at least 120 perspectives. The public is also invited to participate in the exhibition: What is your favourite work in the Brücke-Museum?

Artists

Programme

See all

Staff

120 Berliners, Co-Curators

Julia Reinschüssel and Luna Weis, Project Manager

Isabel Fischer and Christiane Remm, Curators of Collection

Daniela Bystron, Curator of Outreach

Ximena G. Toro, Curatorial Assistant, Outreach

Valentina Bay, Communication