In the Het Nationale Park De Hoge Veluwe the Kroeller-Mueller Museum awaits the visitors with its extensive collection of art work by van Gogh, Seurat, Picasso, Léger, Mondrian and many other classical mo dern artists. The founder, Helene Kroeller-Mueller, was the art enthusiast daughter of a German industrialist and married the dutchman Kroeller in 1888. One of the largest sculpture gardens in the world forms part of the museum. Over an area of 25 hectares a large number of sculptures by well-known artists of the 20th century are exhibited.
In the Moyland Castle, the former private collection of the brothers Franz Joseph and Hans van der Grinten has exhibits from the 19th and 20th Century and the world’s largest collection of work by Joseph Beuys. Likewise the Joseph Beuys archives, which also serve as an international research facility, is accommodated here.
Xanten has the status of Roman, cathedral and Siegfried town on the Lower Rhine. Particularly well worth seeing is the archaeological park on the site of the Roman city of Colonia Ulpia Traiana with numerous reconstructed buildings from the time of the Romans.
In Duisburg the impressive regeneration of the old city centre port is something to be experienced. In addition to many other structures, well worth seeing is the world’s first moveable suspension bridge, the “Garden of Remembrance” by the sculptor Dani Karavan with contemporary art projects in the Trinks House, the Kuep pers muehle Museum with exhibits by prominent post-war artists from the entrepreneur Hans Grothe’s collection, and the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Foundation Museum well known beyond the borders of Germany - established in honour of the Duisburg expressionist sculptor Lehm bruck, with over 300 sculptures and ob jects it gives a comprehensive impression of the internationally renowned 20th century artist’s work.
A trip to Essen is for art enthusiasts highly recommendable. The German Poster Museum awaits visitors here: a collection of over 80,000 exhibits illustrates the history of the poster.
In the Folkwang Museum an extensive collection of German and French paintings as well as sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries by, amongst others, Caspar David Friedrich, Corot, Courbet, Monet, Manet, van Gogh, Matisse, Pollock, Rothko and Baselitz, are to be admired.
Also the Huegel Villa on Lake Baldeney in Essen, the former residence of the Krupp family, is just as worth seeing for the grandness of its architecture, as it is for the international exhibitions held inside since 1953.
A special gem is the world cultural heritage site Zollverein Coalmine. The pit, once built in the Bauhaus style, is today an industrial monument of international importance. The North-Rhine Westphalia design centre is located here. An unique exhibition of industrial design in the old halls of the coking plant and guided tours of the history of the mining industry – experiences that provide for lasting impressions.
