Bonn lies on the river Rhine some 20 km south of Cologne. The city remains a popular choice for large-scale exhibitions, conferences, street culture with many cafes and beer gardens in the summer. When in Bonn, you can also visit the August-Macke-Haus, a museum dedicated to the expressionist painter August Macke. The museum displays reconstructed interiors and holds exhibitions regularly on topics focusing on Expressionism.
Carl Heinrich Gerhardt, the father of August Macke’s wife Elisabeth, purchased the house in 1884 to store the archives of his firm next door. The house had been built in 1877/78 in late classicist style. After Gerhardt’s death Macke urged his mother-in-law, who had inherited the house, to remodel the attic as a studio for him. At the urging of son-in-law August and following his design, Sophie had the top floor redone as an artist’s studio. In 1911, Macke, his wife, Elisabeth, and their son moved in.
The artist completed more than 400 paintings while living in the house. ). Looking out from the windows of the house, and especially from those of his studio, Macke observed, sketched, and painted life on the streets below and – again and again – the house’s magnificent garden.
The August Macke Haus was opened to the public on September 26, 1991 in a ceremony attended by North-Rhine/Westphalia Minister-President Johannes Rau. In addition to the studio with paintings by August Macke and furniture used by him in Tegernsee, the house contains an archive of Rhenish Expressionism and a reference library.
The house regularly holds exhibitions on topics connected with Rhenish Expressionism and these exhibitions are documented in a catalogue series published by the Verein August Macke Haus. In the few years since its inception, the Museum August Macke Haus has established itself as an internationally recognized center for research on Rhenish Expressionism.
