When is the exhibition open

The exhibition runs from July 9 to October 4, 2026, during regular museum hours. Please check the HLMD website for information on holidays and evening extensions.

Are there guided tours and educational programs

Yes, the HLMD regularly offers guided tours and programs for schools and families. Dates and bookings can be found on the museum's event calendar.

What are the admission prices

The exhibition is included in the ticket for the permanent exhibition. Children and youth up to 18 years have free admission. Please check the HLMD website for current prices before your visit.

Is the museum barrier-free accessible

Yes, there are barrier-free paths, elevators, and a designated entrance on the west side. Parking is possible in the Q-Park Schlossgarage with barrier-free access.

Am I allowed to take photos in the exhibition

House rules and on-site notes apply. Photography without flash is allowed in many areas; restrictions may apply to individual works or special areas.

How do I reach the museum and where can I park

The address is Friedensplatz 1, 64283 Darmstadt. Public transport stops are located at the castle and Luisenplatz. Parking options are available at the Q-Park Schlossgarage with barrier-free access.

Rediscovered in the HLMD: Textile Art of the 50s anew, radiant, lively

Name: Rediscovered! – Textile Images for the Hessian State Museum Darmstadt
Start: 2026-07-09T13:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-04T19:00:00+02:00
Location: Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt

Rediscovered! Textile Images – Experience Icons of Post-War Modernism in the HLMD

Starting from July 9, 2026, the Hessian State Museum Darmstadt will unfold a rare artistic experience in the skylight hall: Four monumental tapestries from the 1950s return – along with preserved design drawings – as a focused cabinet exhibition. The show traces how textile art bridged figuration and abstraction, shaping the exhibition atmosphere of the house and bringing modernity into the staircase.

Textile as Image Carrier: Dense Fabrics, Strong Forms, Vibrant Color

In the examination of the works, the material poetics impress: warp and weft threads form clear contours, matte wool meets shimmering yarns, and surfaces breathe. The spatial effect of the large-format tapestries unfolds in the soft skylight – contours become three-dimensional, color fields pulse, the fabric speaks as an independent image surface.

Bauhaus Heritage and Craft Tradition

Else Mögelin – shaped at the Weimar Bauhaus under Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, and Gerhard Marcks – translates avant-garde color and form ideas into weaving and combines them with artisanal excellence. Johanna Schütz-Wolff, a prominent leader of the textile class at Burg Giebichenstein, established tapestry as an autonomous art form; her wall tapestry Woman and Boy (1956, execution: Munich Gobelin Manufactory) exemplifies a figuratively condensed visual language.

Darmstadt Signature: Inge and Fritz Vahle

The younger generation includes the artist couple Inge and Fritz Vahle, based in Darmstadt. Their tapestries, developed close to their own studio practice, combine graphic reduction, rhythmic ornamentation, and warm materiality – textile as a contemporary image surface of the post-war era.

Exception in the Oeuvre: Fritz Winter Thought in Threads

Fritz Winter, one of the most significant abstract painters of the Federal Republic, created only two tapestries – one of which is for Darmstadt. The work was prominently displayed in 1959 at the II. documenta in Kassel: Painterly energy translates into woven structures, bundles of lines and color islands achieve a vibrating balance.

Curating with Historical Depth

Curator Dr. Wolfgang Glüber locates the four tapestries art-historically in the tension field between figurative and non-objective textile art of the 1950s. The presentation of the design drawings opens a view into artistic processes – from the study sketch to the manufactural execution.

Museum Education and Aesthetic Experience

As a universal museum, the HLMD offers various communication formats: family and school programs, tours, inclusively conceived access. Barrier-free paths from the Q-Park Schlossgarage and a directional plan facilitate the visit; children and youth up to 18 years receive free admission – a strong signal for cultural education.

Conclusion: This cabinet exhibition revives post-war modernism in vibrant threads. Anyone who wants to feel colors, forms, and materials in their own breath should see these textile images in their original form – for a dense aesthetic experience that only the real museum space can provide.