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Wuppertaler Str. 160    
42653 Solingen

Öffnungszeiten

Tuesday — Sunday,
10 a.m. — 5 p.m.

Eintritt

Adults: 9€
Reduced: €4.50
Up to 18 years: free admission

Mehr Infos zu freiem und ermäßigtem Eintritt

Öffnungszeiten

Tuesday — Sunday,
10 a.m. — 5 p.m.

Eintritt

Adults: 9€
Reduced: €4.50
Up to 18 years: free admission

Mehr Infos zu freiem und ermäßigtem Eintritt

Das Zentrum für verfolgte Künste ist ein Entdeckungsmuseum und widmet sich ausschließlich Künstler:innen deren Entfaltungsmöglichkeiten und Werke durch die Diktaturen des letzten Jahrhunderts und totalitäre Regime bis in die Gegenwart hinein blockiert, verhindert oder vernichtet wurden. Es ist ein gattungsübergreifendes Museum und erzählt in seiner Kunst- und Literatursammlung von verschollenen, verlorenen, kaum berücksichtigten Kunstwerken, Geschichten und Schicksalen.

Wuppertaler Str. 160    
42653 Solingen

Opening hours

Tuesday — Sunday,
10 a.m. — 5 p.m.

Admission

Adults: 9€
Reduced: €4.50
Up to 18 years: free admission

More information about free and discounted admission

Opening hours

Tuesday — Sunday,
10 a.m. — 5 p.m.

Admission

Adults: 9€
Reduced: €4.50
Up to 18 years: free admission

More information about free and discounted admission

The Center for Persecuted Arts is a museum of discovery, dedicated exclusively to artists whose works and opportunities for development were blocked, prevented, and partially destroyed by the dictatorships of the last century and by totalitarian regimes up to the present day. It is an interdisciplinary museum, and its collection of visual art and literature tells of lost and neglected works of art, stories, and fates.

Aktuelles

Current temporary exhibitions

Exhibition poster “Unlock your heads at last!” Dada as political art between the world wars
5/9/26
9/13/26

Temporary Exhibition

:

“Unlock your heads at last!”

Dada as political art between the world wars

Anti-bourgeois, anarchist, and pacifist, Dada, with its sharp eye and biting satire, offered social criticism, questioning prevailing values ​​as well as political and social conditions and dynamics, especially those that had led to the catastrophe of the First World War. To mark its 110th anniversary, “Open your minds at last!” celebrates the Dada art movement and demonstrates the continued relevance of its political engagement.

Temporary Exhibition

Exhibition poster “Unlock your heads at last!” Dada as political art between the world wars

“Unlock your heads at last!”

Dada as political art between the world wars

Anti-bourgeois, anarchist, and pacifist, Dada, with its sharp eye and biting satire, offered social criticism, questioning prevailing values ​​as well as political and social conditions and dynamics, especially those that had led to the catastrophe of the First World War. To mark its 110th anniversary, “Unlock your heads at last!” celebrates the Dada art movement and demonstrates the continued relevance of its political engagement.

Future temporary exhibitions

Temporary Exhibition

Landscape on Hanna Melnykova's path from Germany to Ukraine. Photo: Hanna Melnykova

Lifelines. Across borders

An art project by Hanna Melnykova

In the summer of 2025, Ukrainian photo artist Hanna Melnykova emigrated from Germany to Ukraine and documented her “performative walk” photographically. The exhibition shows her engagement with migration, resilience, and cultural ties in the current geopolitical landscape. The symbolic meaning of this walk: It represents life itself. The route set for the project illustrates the borders between nations and embodies the gap between past and future as well as personal and collective transformation.

Wechselausstellung

Fritz Schaefler, Village Characters, 1940s, oil on cardboard, mounted on cardboard and plywood, 49.8 x 39.9 cm © VAN HAM Art Estate: Fritz Schaefler

Lines of Destiny

The painter Fritz Schaefler and his collector Joseph Heymann

The exhibition explores the fractured biographies of two men: the Expressionist painter and graphic artist Fritz Schaefler (1888-1954) and the Rheinland Jewish industrialist and art collector Joseph Heymann (1887-1954). It recounts their shared interests and common ground, such as their love for the city of Cologne, Carnival, and their connection to the Bergisches Land region, and traces, through letters and documents, the fate of the Heymann art collection until its return to Germany.

Landscape on Hanna Melnykova's path from Germany to Ukraine. Photo: Hanna Melnykova
10/8/26
11/8/26

Temporary Exhibition

:

Lifelines. Across borders

An art project by Hanna Melnykova

In the summer of 2025, photo artist Hanna Melnykova emigrated from Germany to Ukraine. The Museum Center for Persecuted Arts is showing the photographic documentation of their performative walk.

Fritz Schaefler, Village Characters, 1940s, oil on cardboard, mounted on cardboard and plywood, 49.8 x 39.9 cm © VAN HAM Art Estate: Fritz Schaefler
11/26/26
2/14/27

Wechselausstellung

:

Lines of Destiny

The painter Fritz Schaefler and his collector Joseph Heymann

The exhibition explores the fractured biographies of two men: the Expressionist painter and graphic artist Fritz Schaefler (1888-1954) and the Rheinland Jewish industrialist and art collector Joseph Heymann (1887-1954).

Events

Guided Tours

Vernissage „Unlock your heads at last!“, Photo: Daniela Tobias/Center for Persecuted Arts

Public guided tour “Unlock your heads at last!”

Dada as political art between the world wars

During our public Sunday tour, our art educators will guide you through the exhibition „Unlock your heads at last!“ Dada as Political Art Between the World Wars. The Dadaists employed a wide variety of styles, producing literature, poetry, stage plays, paintings, graphic art, collages, and photographs. Yet the political dimension serves as a central common thread—running through the movement’s works like a leitmotif—and finds expression in the most diverse and unexpected ways.

Concert

Blixa Bargeld. Photo: Thomas Rabsch

Blixa Bargeld: Geeichte Ichung

Vocal Solo-Performance

A particular highlight of the program accompanying our Dada exhibition, “Unlock your heads at last!” Dada as Political Art Between the World Wars, is an evening with Blixa Bargeld on Thursday, June 25, 2026. The very name of this musician and author serves as a homage to the Cologne Dadaist Johannes Baargeld. With the band Einstürzende Neubauten, singer Bargeld brought Dada into the present day; in his solo projects, he continues to uphold Dada’s radical approach to language and thought.

6/21/26

Guided Tours

:

Public guided tour “Unlock your heads at last!”

Dada as political art between the world wars

During our public Sunday tour, our art educators will guide you through the exhibition „Unlock your heads at last!“ Dada as Political Art Between the World Wars.

6/25/26

Concert

:

Blixa Bargeld: Geeichte Ichung

Vocal Solo-Performance

A particular highlight of the program accompanying our Dada exhibition, “Unlock your heads at last!” Dada as Political Art Between the World Wars, is an evening with Blixa Bargeld

Permanent exhibition

In the permanent exhibition of the Museum Center for Persecuted Arts, you can discover works of art, stories, and fates from the first half of the last century that were either lost, thought to be lost, or largely ignored.

Museum für verfolgte Künste

More about the mission statement and the history of the Center for Persecuted Arts Museum.

Learn more about the Civic Foundation for Persecuted Arts and the Gerhard Schneider art collection.

More about the Promotional Society that was founded to support and enrich our program.

Latest news

Fritz Schaefler, Village Characters, 1940s, oil on cardboard, mounted on cardboard and plywood, 49.8 x 39.9 cm © VAN HAM Art Estate: Fritz Schaefler
11/26/26
2/14/27

Wechselausstellung

:

Lines of Destiny

The painter Fritz Schaefler and his collector Joseph Heymann

The exhibition explores the fractured biographies of two men: the Expressionist painter and graphic artist Fritz Schaefler (1888-1954) and the Rheinland Jewish industrialist and art collector Joseph Heymann (1887-1954).

Vernissage „Unlock your heads at last!“, Photo: Daniela Tobias/Center for Persecuted Arts
6/21/26

Guided Tours

:

Public guided tour “Unlock your heads at last!”

Dada as political art between the world wars

During our public Sunday tour, our art educators will guide you through the exhibition „Unlock your heads at last!“ Dada as Political Art Between the World Wars.

Blixa Bargeld. Photo: Thomas Rabsch
6/25/26

Concert

:

Blixa Bargeld: Geeichte Ichung

Vocal Solo-Performance

A particular highlight of the program accompanying our Dada exhibition, “Unlock your heads at last!” Dada as Political Art Between the World Wars, is an evening with Blixa Bargeld

In order to be able to display video content from Vimeo, we use cookies on this site. Vimeo may collect personal data for analytical purposes. By clicking “Accept”, you agree to this data processing. Further information and the option to withdraw your consent can be found in our Privacy statement.