Museum Tips in Aschaffenburg, Schweinfurt and Würzburg

Lower Franconia has a wealth of surprises in store - because art and architecture are combined in many different ways here. Historic buildings such as an old granary, a church or even a former swimming pool now serve as "jewellery boxes" for works of art in a wide variety of styles. At the same time, sophisticated buildings of modern museum architecture such as the Museum Georg Schäfer in Schweinfurt, magnificent historical buildings such as the Pompejanum in Aschaffenburg or even the small - perhaps initially inconspicuous - birthplace of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner await you in Lower Franconia. However, the Christian Schad Museum, which is housed in a former Jesuit college and was only recently opened, deserves special mention. Here are our museum tips in Lower Franconia!

Museum Tips in Aschaffenburg

The painting shows a dark-haired woman in traditional Mexican costume, staring straight ahead — Christian Schad, Mexican woman, oil on canvas, 1930, Museums of the City of Aschaffenburg © Museen der Stadt Aschaffenburg - Stefan Stark

Exterior view of the museum in a former Jesuit college — Exterior view of the Christian Schad Museum (Christian Schad Museum) and Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church Art Gallery), from Landingstraße © Museen der Stadt Aschaffenburg - Stefan Stark

Christian Schad Museum

Christian Schad stands like no other for the painting of the "New Objectivity" of the 1920s. Aschaffenburg has recently opened a globally unique exhibition of his oeuvre: The new Christian Schad Museum (Christian Schad Museum) presents the life of this exceptional artist in the context of the European avant-garde. His oeuvre reflects Dada and Expressionism through to Magical Realism after 1945, while his photographs without a camera - known as Schadographs - have established his worldwide fame alongside the iconic works of New Objectivity. Christian Schad's estate of around 3,200 works can be found in Aschaffenburg, where he lived for four decades, thanks to a donation from his widow.

The museum is visibly connected to the former 17th-century Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church Art Gallery) via "shadographed" glass elements, which now exhibits modern and contemporary art at .

Exhibition room with expressionist paintings on the walls — © Kirchnerhaus Museum Aschaffenburg - Karl-Heinz Möhn

KirchnerHAUS Museum (Kirchner House Museum)

The expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner was born not far from here in 1880. The KirchnerHAUS Museum (Kirchner House Museum) Aschaffenburg is located in the house where he was born, a stately building from 1862 at the former Bavarian-Prussian border railway station. Renovated in keeping with its listed status, the family's former home provides an insight into the famous painter's childhood.

A short walk to Aschaffenburg Castle and its garden on the high banks of the Main takes you into a Mediterranean world with the Pompejanum (Pompeianum).

Exterior view of the Pompejanum, modeled on a Roman villa — The Pompejanum (Pompeianum) in Aschaffenburg. © Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek München - Renate Kühling

Interior view of the Roman-style atrium with red and white columns — The atrium in the Pompejanum (Pompeianum) in Aschaffenburg. © Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek München - Renate Kühling

Pompejanum (Pompeianum)

The Pompejanum (Pompeianum), an ideal replica of a Roman residence, was built by King Ludwig I between 1840 and 1848. It served as an object of study for art lovers and comprises two inner courtyards, the atrium with a water basin and the leafy viridarium. Despite severe damage during the Second World War, the Pompejanum (Pompeianum) was restored by 1994 and supplemented with original Roman artworks from the holdings of the Staatliche Antikensammlungen (State collections of antiquities) and the Glyptothek in Munich. Highlights of the exhibition include marble sculptures, small bronzes, glassware and two marble thrones of the gods. The upper floor presents objects from the ancient household as well as medical and cosmetic equipment, jewellery and children's toys.

Museum Tips in Schweinfurt

A couple marvels at modern works of art in the bright, white rooms of the Kunsthalle — © Kunsthalle Schweinfurt - Barbara Sophie Nägle

Exterior view of Kunsthalle Schweinfurt — © Peter Leutsch

View into the white, bright rooms with skylight, in which works of art stand — © Werner Pokorny, Kunsthalle Schweinfurt - Peter Leutsch

Works of art in the white rooms of the Kunsthalle — © Peter Leutsch

Kunsthalle Schweinfurt (Schweinfurt Art Gallery)

The Kunsthalle Schweinfurt (Schweinfurt Art Gallery), which was donated by the Schweinfurt industrialist Ernst Sachs and built between 1931 and 1933 according to plans by Roderich Fick, is an exciting venue. The neo-Aristotelian architecture is the ideal setting for the emerging art of the German Informel movement after 1945. The exhibitions in the large hall are held in exceptional conditions: The room with the former swimming pool has an almost sacred room height of nine metres. Artist talks, concerts and guided tours in German sign language in cooperation with the Museum Signers offer numerous opportunities for a lively exchange.

View into the foyer of the Museum Georg Schäfer — © Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt

Exterior view of the Georg Schäfer Museum — © Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt

View of the Impressionist Hall — © Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt

Museum Georg Schäfer

The Museum Georg Schäfer (Museum Georg Schäfer) in the centre of Schweinfurt surprises in more ways than one: as an architectural masterpiece by Volker Staab, it impresses with its simple elegance and refreshing lines of sight both inside and out. The outstanding collection of paintings and graphic art from the German-speaking world need not fear comparison with Berlin and Munich. It provides an overview from 1760 to 1930 and includes important groups of works by individual painters such as Caspar David Friedrich, Carl Spitzweg, Adolph von Menzel or Impressionists such as Max Slevogt, Lovis Corinth and Max Liebermann.

Museum Tips in Würzburg

Exterior view of the Museum im Kulturspeicher — © Museum im Kulturspeicher - Andreas Bestle

Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg (Museum in the Culture Granary Würzburg)

The imposing granary stands directly on the banks of the Main in the Old Harbour - a real sight. Brückner & Brückner carefully transformed it into the Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg (Museum in the Culture Granary Würzburg). Steel, glass and concrete are combined with historic beams in a fascinating way. The municipal art collection and the concrete art of the Peter C. Rupert Collection are united here under one roof. Important works by the sculptor Emmy Roeder set strong female accents.

Blick in die neue Dauerausstellung, die Wände sind altrosa gestrichen — © Marina Breitschaft

Blick in die neue Dauerausstellung mit Heiligenfiguren — © Marina Breitschaft

Außenansicht des modernen Museumbaus neben dem Würzburger Dom — MAD © Photo: Marina Breitschaft © Marina Breitschaft

Museum am Dom Würzburg (Museum at the Cathedral Würzburg)

In addition to its proximity to the cathedral, the Museum am Dom Würzburg (Museum at the Cathedral Würzburg) promises amazing art enjoyment as well as stimulating, true-to-life impulses. Sometimes quiet and subtle, sometimes powerful and drastic, questions about life, suffering and death are thrown into the room with art: Regardless of epoch, medium and style, a wide arc is spanned, allowing a medieval crucifix by Tillmann Riemenschneider to be found alongside modern works by Otto Dix, Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys.

Sabine Wieshuber