The Kunsthalle Mannheim, opened as a museum in 1909, is one of the first civic collections of modern art. Shortly after its founding, the Kunsthalle gained a pioneering role in the German museum scene through modern collection concepts. As early as 1910, Fritz Wichert (1909-1923) acquired its most famous painting: Édouard Manet's "The Execution of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico." Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub (1923-1933) coined the term "Neue Sachlichkeit" (New Objectivity) in 1925 and brought the realistic painting of the late 1920s to Mannheim. After the Second World War, the Kunsthalle became one of the leading museums with a focus on sculpture. It developed into one of the most important museums of classical modern and contemporary art.
Currently, the collection includes about 2,300 paintings, 860 sculptures and installations, 34,000 graphics and 800 objects of applied art. In addition to masterpieces of painting and graphic art from Max Beckmann to Francis Bacon, the collection shines with a collection of sculptures from Auguste Rodin to Thomas Hirschhorn. It also shows installations by Alicja Kwade, Rebecca Horn, William Kentridge, Joseph Kosuth and James Turrell. Other focal points of the Kunsthalle's academic work include the development of high-caliber exhibitions - each year the museum presents a variety of special exhibitions ranging from modern to contemporary art to graphic art - as well as provenance research. In addition to outstanding art, visitors to the Kunsthalle Mannheim can look forward to impressive architecture: the historically grown complex on Mannheim's most beautiful square, Friedrichsplatz, includes Hermann Billing's Art Nouveau building from 1907 as well as the Hector Building by the Hamburg-based firm gmp - von Gerkan Mark und Partner, which was completed in 2017. In total, the Kunsthalle offers 5,700 square meters of exhibition space.