Critical Art as a Means of Emancipation at Villa Schöningen

Until August 18 Villa Schöningen in Potsdam honors Harald Falckenberg (1943-2023), the influential Hamburger collector who passed away in November last year.

His willingness to support conceptual art made him one of the world’s top collectors (ARTnews counted him among the 200 most important collectors) and left behind an unparalleled art collection of around 2,400 works with an emphasis on German and American contemporary art from the 1980s onwards.

As an excerpt, 45 works by 29 international artists are presented on loan from the Deichtorhallen Hamburg / Sammlung Falckenberg Collection.

Among the works featured at the exhibition are Daniel Richter's Lonely Old Slogan (2006), Monica Bonvicini's Safety Harness, Liquid Rubber (2006), Martin Kippenberger’s I Hate You! and Fred the Frog Rings the Bell (1990), as well as Self-Inflicted Justice by Bad Shopping (1984). The exhibition also includes Bjarne Melgaard's Affen-Torso! (2000), Johannes Wohnseifer's Pors(che) (2003), Erwin Wurm’s Adorno als Oliver Hardy in The Bohemian Girl (1936) and the Burden of Desperation (2006), and Werner Büttner's Frau mit Beule (1990).

The exhibition features conceptual and performance art, alongside works that are narrative, cynical, melancholic, and humorous. It includes anarchic, polemical, and provocative pieces from the Fluxus and Neo-Dada movements. As Mr. Falckenberg told the Northern German Broadcaster, "I have always wanted to collect art that critically addresses societal development".

In an interview with arterritory.com, he revealed that his family had a strong aversion to art, which initially limited his exposure to it. He discussed how art became a means of emancipation for him: "a form of emancipation that was born from the desire to be independent and to do what you want to do, and not what others force you to do".

Bourgeois Villa Reimagined as Antiquity Market

Taking it a step further with a red awning and a big sign, the artist transformed the entrance of the bourgeois villa into a little antique room or "Antikstübchen Nachwort".

In addition to the works featured in the exhibition, a new expansive installation by Christian Jankowski pays tribute to Falckenberg as both a collector and a person. The piece titled Antikstübchen Nachwort features a vast collection of his household items — an elaborate junk art installation that reflects Falckenberg’s physical and intellectual legacy.

The artist hired the household clearance company Rümpelwelt to transport Falckenberg’s remaining belongings from his apartment in Hamburg to the Potsdam exhibition space. The company then sorted and arranged the objects, with lightboxes complementing these groupings and reflecting the aesthetic of junk stores.

The accompanying video documents the journey of objects, highlighting the junk dealer's stories and experiences. The dealers recite fragments from Falckenberg’s writings on art, momentarily assuming the role of collectors. Jankowski’s artistic afterword expands on Falckenberg’s philosophy, perspective on art, and humor.

"This epilogue stands as a lasting testament to Falckenberg's life, with its impact resonating through the present and future. It offers insight into the exhibition", said Pola van den Hövel, Assistant Curator, during the exhibition tour.

The venue itself, steeped in history and architectural landmarks, harmoniously blends art and nature, featuring a beautiful garden designed by landscape architect Peter Joseph Lenné (1789–1866) and his former student Gustav Meyer (1816–1877). During the summer, Villa Schöningen will host jazz concerts (check "Aperol' n Art"), conversations with artists, and also offer a monthly guided tour of the nearby Villa Schlieffen.

Preserving History Amidst Change

In 1818, Potsdam master shipbuilder Martin Nüssoll purchased a vacant lot at Glienicke Bridge from Johann Friedrich Lehmann. By 1826, Nüssoll had commissioned master mason Christian Friedrich Fimmel to build a two-story house. Over the decades, the villa changed hands several times. In 1859, it was sold to Prince Carl of Prussia, and in 1945, the Red Army took it.

During the post-war period under the GDR government, the villa housed offices and a daycare center for the Free German Trade Union Federation. The Inner German Border, established in 1961, ran directly next to Villa Schöningen, placing it in the heavily secured death strip (Todesstreifen). After the German reunification in 1989 and the demolition of the Berlin Wall, the border area disappeared. The villa remained a daycare until 1993 and was vacated by 1999. Initial plans to demolish it for new construction were halted due to its historic significance.

In 2007, Mathias Döpfner and Leonhard Fischer acquired the villa and restored it according to German cultural heritage requirements. Villa Schöningen reopened as an exhibition venue in 2009.

The space presents rotating exhibitions of contemporary art alongside works by Old Masters, creating a seamless blend of historical and modern artistic narratives. The upcoming exhibition titled "Stoff – Textil und der weibliche Akt" will open on September 8. It will feature pieces from the Döpfner collection, showcasing the female nude in conjunction with textiles and offering an art-historical overview of this theme.

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Text: Nera Menor