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Welcome to the museums of Aschaffenburg.

Born in Aschaffenburg: Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, founding member of the artist’s group Die Brücke, is today considered one of the most important trailblazers of Modernism.

Kirchner was born in Aschaffenburg on May 6, 1880. He was born in a house across from the train station, present-day Ludwigstraße 19, which his parents rented. Kirchner’s childhood years in Aschaffenburg were followed by the impressions and experiences of the cities of Dresden and Berlin and contact with the art of the European avant-garde.

The catastrophe of the First World War plunged Kirchner into a deep depression, and he withdrew to his refuge in the Swiss Alps. With the Nazi seizure of power in Germany and the confiscation of his pictures, his condition darkened into an existential crisis. In 1938, in exile in Switzerland, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner ended his own life.

  • Kirchner's view on the old station of Aschaffenburg

    Across from the train station is the birthplace of E. L. Kirchner. The house in which the expressionist artist was born has been renovated in accordance with guidelines for historic monuments.

    In 2013 the Verein KirchnerHAUS Aschaffenburg installed a documentation space on Kirchner’s childhood in the family’s former apartment. At the beginning of 2014 further rooms on the ground floor were rented for exhibitions, lectures, and events. The City of Aschaffenburg provides regular financial support to the Verein KirchnerHAUS Aschaffenburg.

    KirchnerHAUS Aschaffenburg

    Bahnhof von Aschaffenburg, historische Aufnahme um 1890, Stadt- und Stiftsarchiv Aschaffenburg, Fotosammlung

    Bahnhof von Aschaffenburg, historische Aufnahme um 1890, Stadt- und Stiftsarchiv Aschaffenburg, Fotosammlung

  • Kirchner in the Palace

    Two oil paintings by Kirchner are exhibited in the Palace Museum.

    Palace Museum

    Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Die Baumgrenze, Öl/Leinwand, 1918, Museen der Stadt Aschaffenburg

  • Kirchner's drawings

    Works by Kirchner are also held by the prints collection of the Museums of the City of Aschaffenburg, but these are not on permanent display.

    Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Sich kämmendes Mädchen, Tuschpinselzeichnung, um 1916, Museen der Stadt Aschaffenburg.