Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen

The Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Siegen shows art from the 1950s to today. Paintings, photographs, videos and large installations fill its rooms. Two collections stand out: the Lambrecht-Schadeberg collection, which owns over 200 works by every Rubens Prize winner, and a growing group of contemporary pieces with strong photography. The museum’s focus on Bernd and Hilla Becher anchors Siegen in international art history. Their photographs of industrial buildings appear alongside works by Francis Bacon, Cy Twombly and Bridget Riley. Every five years the Rubens Prize exhibition introduces new winners, while smaller displays highlight recent acquisitions and fresh perspectives on past laureates. Josef Paul Kleihues designed the building by linking an old telegraph office from 1894 with a modern extension. Inside, changing exhibitions occupy three to four large spaces each year. Outside, a concrete wall holds a video screen that faces the Lower Castle courtyard. The museum was named German Museum of the Year in 2011 for redefining what a museum can be.