A jewel in Lübeck's museum landscape

I really missed the Behnhaus Königstraße 14 , I felt a kind of longing. For the elegant rooms and the chance to glimpse the past. For unique works of art from the 19th and early 20th centuries. And for my favorite painting, "Child in the Playroom " by Heinrich Eduard Linde-Walther , which depicts Else, the daughter of the art historian Walther Gensel, in 1901.

The fact that access to the Overbeck Society's pavilion was blocked by the Bürgergarten further dampened my spirits. But now the wait is over, and I'm taking you with me today for a brief reunion in Lübeck's ZWISCHENZEILEN

Where spaces tell stories

The Behnhaus is – not just for me – one of the most beautiful museums in Germany. This is undoubtedly due to its magnificent rooms. To the elegance of the light-filled spaces. They radiate clarity and tranquility. At the end of the 19th century, people still lived here – in a cultured, orderly way, with a sense of beauty that has remained with the house to this day.

The Behnhaus was a bourgeois residence. In the mornings, the air was filled with the scent of floor wax and freshly brewed coffee. Dishes clattered in the kitchen, and maids glided silently past the doors in the hallways. The daughter of the house practiced the piano while the master of the house read his newspaper and the lady of the house planned the shopping for the evening's soirée. At midday, the silverware gleamed in the dining room, and a soft light filtered through the tall windows onto the dark wooden furniture—a daily life that still resonates in the rooms of this neoclassical townhouse.

spirit of community

The history of the Behnhaus remains closely linked to civic engagement in the city. It is a product of civic spirit – created and maintained through the support of foundations, collectors, and art-loving Lübeck residents.

This is one of the reasons why many people who live here feel so closely connected to the Behnhaus.

Almost everyone has a favorite object, be it a drawing, a sculpture, a painting or a photograph.

Focusing on local and regional themes is the guiding principle in the work of the museum and its director, Alexander Bastek . He and his dedicated team used the closure period to redesign the presentation of the collection.

Connections between art and architecture

Your tour through the house leads you into the magnificent rooms of the palace. In the former kitchen, you will find works of German Romanticism, including paintings by Caspar David Friedrich and his contemporaries Carl Gustav Carus and Carl Blechen .

In the landscape room, which the builder of the Behn House, Peter Hinrich Tesdorpf , used as a bedroom, the Behn family commissioned a panoramic painting of southern climes in the mid-19th century. Looking out the windows into the Lübeck garden, one could dream of the sunny south as soon as one woke up.

Opposite is Max Liebermann's "Wannsee Garden". Another place of longing that fits wonderfully into this space thematically.

The gallery on the first floor showcases German Impressionists. Alongside works by Berlin Secession artists Max Liebermann, Lovis Corint , and Max Slevogt , the Behnhaus also displays works by Lübeck and other North German artists.

historic salons in the Behnhaus in Lübeck

The dark chapter of the Behnhaus's history is also addressed in the blue salon. Here, a large-format photograph by Hildegard Heise, mounted on glass and presumably taken in 1927, shows what the main floor looked like at that time. Only one of the paintings depicted remains in the collection today. In 1933, Heise was dismissed by the National Socialists. Her works were confiscated and lost to the museum, most of them forever. Like a veil of glass, the photograph lies over the past, making clear just how fragile what seems so natural to us truly is.

Female artists in the women's refuge

In the former bedroom of the lady of the house (yes, of course, people slept in separate rooms), works by female artists are on display, artists who at that time were not yet permitted to study at an academy or university. Freely choosing a profession was unthinkable for women in the 19th century. There were "ladies' classes," private academies that offered painting lessons. In the lady's bedroom, works by Paula Modersohn-Becker, Maria Slavona, and Else Wex-Cleemann can be found. The architecture of the room and the paintings complement each other beautifully.

Cityscapes from back then

Further highlights of the collection can be found in the Small Salon, also known as the Corner Salon. In this narrow room on the first floor hang three views of Lübeck from different periods. These cityscapes were painted by three artists who were not from Lübeck. The Dutchman Cornelis Springer offers us a view of the market square, the town hall, and St. Mary's Church as it appeared in 1870. The heart of the old town looks almost exactly the same today.

In 1920, the American Lionel Feininger the city. Ten years later, he created his painting "Old Houses," which depicts house facades on Schmiedestraße. Finally, there was Oskar Kokoschka . His 1958 city portrait shows St. James' Church. This view, too, is familiar: on the left edge of the painting is the Holy Spirit Hospital. In the background are the towers of St. Mary's Church.

the Linde children

A visit to the Behnhaus would be incomplete without showing you "The Children of Dr. Linde." You simply can't miss them. Thanks to extensive renovations, they've finally been returned to their place in the foyer, from where they had been banished, among other reasons, because of the drafts. Edvard Munch is not only a striking example of Lübeck's cultural history but also one of the most beloved paintings by Lübeck's residents. Munch frequently visited Lübeck and spent many hours at the home of his patron, the art collector Dr. Max Linde. According to a description by the museum's former director, Dr. Carl Georg Heise, the group portrait from 1903 depicts the moment they first met. The children had been called in from the garden to greet the Norwegian guest. The painting exudes a profound sense of tranquility due to its light background and the reflections of light.