About Us

Our mission

The Overbeck-Museum is a vibrant house for art and people – hospitable, inspiring, committed to preserving and communicating the values of art.

We want to inspire people to think and discuss: about art, but also about ourselves and our place in the world.

Because that is what art can do – and much more.

A House for Art and People

The Overbeck-Museum considers itself to be a vibrant house for art and people – hospitable, inspiring, committed to preserving and communicating the values of art. As a museum dedicated to the legacy of the painter couple Fritz and Hermine Overbeck, it is primarily concerned with the work of these two artists. One of its special features is that it was founded by Gertrud Overbeck, the granddaughter of Fritz and Hermine Overbeck. This familial relationship, which manifests itself in the personal atmosphere of the Overbeck-Museum, is something we want to preserve and pass on to the visitors in our daily routines and interactions.

Dedicated and Friendly

The Overbeck-Museum is supported by a dedicated team of full-time, part-time and volunteer staff who feel a close bond with the museum. Mutual appreciation, helpfulness, diligence and friendliness characterize our daily work.

A Wide Range of Cultural Offers

As a member of the Kulturbüro Bremen Nord gGmbH, the Overbeck-Museum is part of a union of cultural institutions from different sectors that support and enrich each other and thus create a wide range of cultural offers. Collaborations with schools, the University of Bremen, the Worpswede museums and numerous other cultural and educational institutions form a network by which the Overbeck-Museum affects the near neighbourhoods as well as the further region.

Collection

The core of our collection is the artistic legacy of the painter couple Fritz and Hermine Overbeck. It consists of oil paintings, drawings, etchings, watercolours, gouaches and photographs. The extended collection also includes letters, private photographs, documents and objects (painting utensils, furniture and books) of the painter couple. The Overbeck-Museum’s mission is to make this collection accessible to the public through temporary exhibitions and, where possible, to support exhibitions in other museums with loans.

Conservation

The team of the Overbeck-Museum treats all works of art with care and expertise in order to preserve them for future generations. In storage as well as presentation we are committed to high standards in terms of conservation and security.

Research

The research of the Overbeck-Museum is dedicated to the life and work of Fritz and Hermine Overbeck. Related topics, such as the artists’ colony of Worpswede or the situation of women in the arts around 1900, are also focussed on. The results of our research are made public in exhibitions, publications and lectures. Research by third parties is welcomed and encouraged.

Exhibitions

Changing exhibitions present the collection in different ways, according to the respective focus, and contrast it with other artistic positions from the past and present. The choice of artists and themes depends on whether insightful parallels link them to the work of Fritz and Hermine Overbeck. Thus, all exhibitions offer new perspectives on our collection.

Learn & Explore

The Overbeck-Museum considers itself to be a place of encounter and exchange. Here, everyone can experience art, talk to others and actively contribute to cultural life. We want to inspire people and allow for reflection and new ideas, thus providing a confrontation not only with the arts but also with oneself and the world at large. Our events invite you to develop your own approach to art under expert guidance, to question the known and to receive new impulses.

We want the Overbeck-Museum to be a place where people feel welcome. It is particularly important to us to introduce children and young adolescents to art, to train them in their ability to observe and enjoy artworks and to support them in their self-expression.