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The Pfalzgalerie (Palatinate Gallery) in Kaiserslautern is one of the oldest and most important museums in Rhineland-Palatinate. It was originally founded in 1874 as a museum purely for applied arts and was inaugurated in 1880 after five years of construction.
Initially, applied craft objects and sculptures, tapestries and furniture from the late Gothic period to the 19th century were acquired. The more than 100 paintings that were donated in 1903 by the Munich Privy Councillor Joseph Benzino, who originated from Landstuhl, formed the basis for today’s art collection, which now also contains outstanding works of contemporary art, including some from America. In addition, the museum has an extensive collection of sculptures from the 19th to 21st century and an exquisite graphic collection of 15,000 drawings, including works of Pablo Picasso.
At the foundation of today’s Pfalzgalerie 130 years ago as a museum for applied arts, the intent was initially to collect and present illustrative examples of artist-made objects of daily use such as glass, ceramics and furniture in order to promote craft training and education. With the donation of the paintings of Privy Councillor Benzino, the move away from a museum of purely applied arts to a museum of fine arts was initiated. While applied arts means the application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use, fine arts serves as intellectual stimulation to the viewer or academic sensibilities. Nowadays, applied and fine arts are seen as equals in the Pfalzgalerie, side by side.
World War II also caused great destruction in Kaiserslautern and did not spare the Pfalzgalerie. Except for the facade, nothing was left of the grand building at all. Fortunately, all the collections had been evacuated and taken to safety in time. Dr. Britta Buhlmann, the director of the Pfalzgalerie, said the reconstruction of the collections is very difficult to date because related documents are missing.
Dr. Buhlmann has been the director of the Pfalzgalerie for 15 years. One of her special concerns is the development of the museum reflecting German-American relations.
“Meanwhile, we are now internationally recognized and well located. Many Americans come to visit us,” she said. Consequently, many works of American artists have been acquired in recent years. “For the purpose of grants for young American artists, the Guggenheim Museum in New York has already asked us several times to act as an expert witness.”
The rooms of the permanent collection were just recently fully renovated. A sophisticated lighting system allows for precise illumination. Sixteen bright, clearly designed rooms invite art lovers to the exciting artworks. The Pfalzgalerie also holds regular temporary exhibitions. As “noble guests,” nine paintings of the famous Palatine painter Max Slevogt from the Kunsthalle Bremen collection will enrich the permanent exhibition until this fall. In cooperation with the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, the Palatinate Gallery is currently showing the first retrospective of the works of Carmen Herrera, who was born in 1915 in Cuba and is now living in New York. On display are 55 works of the artist who has exhibited rarely in the past despite good contacts with the art scene. The exhibition can be seen until May 2.
The Pfalzgalerie is located on Museumsplatz 1 in the center of Kaiserslautern, up the hill from the town hall and German-American Community Office. For more information, visit www.pfalzgalerie.de.
