Posted by The Museum Quadrat, a museum complex in Bottrop’s Stadtgarten, is the most important sight in Bottrop. The most famous exhibition in the building is by far the Josef Albers Museum. George Bush and Helmut Kohl were present at the museum’s opening ceremony in 1983. But the Museum of Prehistory and Local History is also worth a tour. For some time now, the museum has been called the “Josef Albers Museum Bottrop”.
Josef Albers Museum
Josef Albers, born in Bottrop in 1888, is one of the world’s most famous Bauhaus-style artists. Especially his series of paintings “Hommage to the Square” made the Quadrat Bottrop famous. The paintings depict squares in various colours, arrangements and sizes. He also fundamentally developed the art of optical illusion.
Josef Albers emigrated to the USA after the Nazis seized power in Germany in 1933. After the war, he returned to Germany temporarily and taught at a college in Ulm for a few years. He died in America in 1976 at the age of 88.
Museum of Prehistory and Local History
Here you can see, for example, a huge mammoth skeleton, one of the largest collections of Stone Age tools in Germany and much more.
Other exhibitions in the museum
On my first visit, there was an exhibition in one wing of the museum: “Annual Exhibition of Bottrop Artists 2007”. There are always special exhibitions, in summer 2017 for example works by the artist Tobias Pils from Austria.
General information
Admission prices Museum Quadrat in Bottrop: Admission is currently (2024) and has been for many years free for all, very unusual for an art museum of this class. Temporary exhibitions cost 6 euros admission.
Opening hours Josef Albers Museum Bottrop 2024 including Museum of Prehistory and Local History Bottrop: Daily 11 am – 5 pm, closed Monday, Sunday and public holiday already at 10 am.
How to get to Museum Quadrat: Every 20 minutes on weekdays from Bottrop main station with the SB 16 line (bus). On Sundays the journey is more complicated: you first have to go from the main station to the central bus station (several lines) and then continue with line 267. The museum stop is called “Im Stadtgarten”.
The Museum Centre Square on the city map
It is in the city’s municipal park.
Similar sights
The major museum of modern art in the Ruhr region is the Folkwang Museum in Essen: More info here
The Museum Alte Post in Mulheim is also worth a visit.
Museums in Vienna can be visited for free with the Vienna Pass, these include: Leopold Museum Vienna Pass (art museum), mumok Vienna Pass (modern art) and the Natural History Museum Vienna Pass.