NRW-Forum Düsseldorf

The NRW-Forum is an exhibition and events house in Düsseldorf. It is located north of the Old Town between the Rhine and The Düsseldorf Hofgarten. The exhibition building was built in 1926 by Wilhelm Kreis and was originally part of the Ehrenhof complex which was constructed for the GeSoLei (Exhibition for Health, Social Welfare and Physical Education).

The building of the NRW-Forum is part of the complex Ehrenhof, a listed monument, built according to the plans of Wilhelm Kreis for the GeSoLei Exhibition. The ensemble encompasses a planetarium (today a concert hall), the State Museum for the Nation and the Economy, an art museum developed around an inner courtyard; as well as the Rhine Terrace. Following a strong symmetrical arrangement, monumental Archaean forms and expressionist red brick facades are the characteristics of the building. Along side the Wilhelm-Marx House, the first high rise building in Europe, and the Museum for Hygiene in Dresden, this ensemble counts as one of Wilhelm Kreis’ most important designs. In 1908 Kreis took over the post as director of the Düsseldorf Arts and Crafts College from Peter Behrens and expanded this to become the Düsseldorf Arts Academy in 1920.

At the beginning of the nineties the building that is now the current museum, housed the “State Museum for the Nation and the Economy.” A kind of technical museum that showed the interplay between the people, nature and the economy, and work and leisure time during the social change. The emphasis was on specific developments within North Rhine-Westphalia.

The main attraction was a walk-in coal mine in the basement.

Due to it’s failing acceptance and the Düsseldorf city budget crisis of that time, the museum was threatened with closure and the sale of the property.
Together with representatives from the media, the advertising world and the Messe Düsseldorf, a new concept for the house was presented. After a complete renovation the NRW-Forum for Culture and Economy was re-opened by the state minister for culture, Ilse Brusis, on 9.10.1998. The opening ceremony was accompanied by a key speech by the director of the New York Guggenheim, Thomas Krens.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/NRW-Forum

further information in english

• The NRW-Forum Düsseldorf
• Address, opening hours, ticket prices
• Informations for visitors with disabilities
• Convergence
• Fashion
• Photography
• Advertising
• Caffe and library