Kunsthalle Messmer

The Kunsthalle Messmer is a modern art museum in Riegel am Kaiserstuhl, set in the old brewery buildings. It shows temporary exhibitions of 20th- and 21st-century art across about 900 square metres indoors. Outside, an 850-square-metre sculpture garden displays works by Gerald Baschek, Hellmut Bruch, Gerhard Frömel and others. The building itself once housed the Riegeler Brauerei before its conversion. The museum opened in June 2009 under the Messmer Foundation, founded by entrepreneur Jürgen A. Messmer in memory of his daughter. Every year up to three exhibitions feature loans from private and museum collections alongside pieces from the foundation’s own holdings. The collection centres on concrete-constructive art, begun when Messmer acquired much of the estate of Swiss artist André Evard in 1978. Evard’s estate remains a core element, and the International André Evard Art Award was created to honour him. Other artists represented include Max Bill, Georges Braque, Salvador Dalí, Otto Dix, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Victor Vasarely. Past exhibitions have ranged from Dalí’s dream imagery to Picasso’s depictions of women, from kinetic art to Bauhaus centenary shows. The programme also highlights emerging talents through the Gallery Messmer, opened in 2013 in a historic columned hall. Inside, visitors move through light-filled galleries where changing displays introduce modernist and contemporary works. The sculpture garden offers open-air encounters with large-scale pieces by established and mid-career artists. The former brewery’s industrial spaces provide a neutral backdrop for bold colours and geometric forms. Nearby vineyards on the Kaiserstuhl hills frame the view, linking the museum’s cultural focus with the region’s landscape. Regular exhibitions rotate, ensuring each visit offers a fresh perspective on the collection and its themes.