Lud­wig For­um für In­ter­na­tionale Kunst in Aachen

Wav­ing ban­ners, rect­an­gu­lar mul­lioned win­dows, and red and yel­low bricks mark the Lud­wig For­um für In­ter­na­tionale Kunst as a place for en­coun­ters even from afar: en­coun­ters with ex­em­plary Bauhaus ar­chi­tec­ture as well as those with in­ter­na­tion­al, con­tem­por­ary art.

The home of Peter and Irene Ludwig’s collection invites guests on a journey of exploration through the decades, styles, and eras of five different cultural circles in a former factory building in Aachen that presents its collection of more than 3000 works in themed temporary exhibitions. Some of them focus on artists from Central and Eastern Europe, North and Latin America, and Asia, while others break down trends and developments in international art history.

Where up to 10,000 umbrellas were produced by Emil Brauer company every day between 1928 and 1988, art enthusiasts can now discover works from Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary in the hall-like corridors. Works from the “Eastern Bloc” as well as Chinese and Cuban art form a focus point at the Ludwig Forum in Aachen, while the centrepieces of the museum’s inventory also include some works from the American Pop Art scene. Peter and Irene Ludwig were some of the first collectors interested in works by people who would later become style icons, such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Chuck Close, and Duane Hanson.

The first presentation of the young American movement by Peter and Irene Ludwig was a great success even back in 1968. This had some far-reaching consequences: at the time, the couple’s pioneering exhibition brought about the founding of the “Neue Galerie - Sammlung Ludwig” in Aachen, which evolved into today’s Ludwig Forum in the course of the years. Several moves later, the museum came to its current location near the picturesque spa garden in 1991. Though parts of its inventory are shown spread across 20 museums around the world, this one on the western edge of NRW is the starting and anchor point of the comprehensive art collection.