The New Art Museum Tübingen
The start of a new construction project is often associated with a mixture of excitement and unpredictability. With every groundbreaking ceremony, new questions arise: What will the finished building look like? What role will it play in the cultural landscape? And how can the visions behind such a project become reality? To find answers to these questions, we spoke with Bernhard Feil, founder of the New Art Museum Tübingen (NKT).
The NKT, which was opened on March 8, 2025, by business partners Bernhard Feil and Stephen Hamann, is an impressive example of the success of a vision. The light-flooded new building at Schaffhausenstraße 123 immediately became a magnet for visitors. The premiere exhibition “Udo Lindenberg – Panik in Tübingen” attracted around 60,000 visitors from all over Germany and neighboring countries, impressively underlining the importance of the new building in the German museum landscape. The subsequent anniversary exhibition by cartoonist Peter Gaymann – “Laughter in Crazy Times” – and the first NKT photo exhibition “Anne Geddes – Until Now” were also very well received.
The Geddes exhibition made Tübingen the only venue in the world capable of presenting the life's work of this outstanding photographer in a museum setting. Born in Australia, she has lived and worked in New York for many years.
“Our New Art Museum Tübingen is a forum for contemporary art and a meeting place for all those interested in art and culture,” says Bernhard Feil, director of the NKT. “With exhibitions that attract large audiences and an extensive cultural program featuring prominent figures, including talk shows (e.g., ”Gysis Begegnungen“), discussions with Fran Lebowitz and Gero von Boehm, lectures such as ‘Kulturköpfe,’ and live acts, we have established the NKT as a cultural institution in southwestern Germany within just a few months.”
"On the occasion of the 75th birthday of James Rizzi (1950–2011) on October 5, 2025, we will be presenting the unique life's work of this New York pop art legend in the exhibition ‘Home Away From Home’. At the same time, we will be opening his former studio in Soho, Manhattan, complete with many original pieces of furniture and works of art, giving it a new and permanent home at the NKT."
The actual function of a museum is to have an impact on society, says Volker Kirchberg, professor of sociology at Leuphana University in Lüneburg. This perfectly sums up the “brand essence” of the NKT. “We want to make art and culture accessible to all age groups and social classes in every respect.”
There are around 7,000 museums in Germany, around a tenth of which are dedicated to art and culture. Many of them boost local tourism and are a location factor for companies. From the outset, NKT has cooperated with municipal institutions and cultural establishments and is continuously expanding these partnerships for the benefit of all.
“The NKT is entirely privately funded. Given the current pressure to cut costs in almost all areas of culture, we want our museum to send a signal that it is possible to achieve economic success in the presentation, communication, and discourse of art and culture at the highest level even without public funding,” says Bernhard Feil. “We are already expecting our 100,000th visitor this year. And by 2026, we predict that this figure will exceed 150,000 thanks to world-renowned artists exhibiting their works at the NKT.”
In addition, the NKT also serves as a stage for talented young artists, offers attractive programs for schools, and is open to local, regional, and nationwide collaborations for exhibitions and events.
“Our striking cube, a bold, two-story steel and glass structure built using environmentally sustainable construction methods and state-of-the-art technology by the Eisele architectural firm in just 14 months above the existing buildings of the gallery and art dealership Art 28, is the new cultural and tourist highlight of the university town of Tübingen.”
From the outset, open and transparent access to art and culture, including in terms of architecture, played a major role in the initiators' considerations and in the museum's design. The art on display is also embedded in the artists' living environments.
“Just as the social and local environment influences artists' work, we also see the NKT, with its exhibitions and events, as being in constant exchange and discourse with the city and its residents and visitors,” says Bernhard Feil.
The NKT uses state-of-the-art technical presentation methods for its exhibitions and cultural program. Its own cinema with a large LED wall, information displays, attractive audio guides, and a fast and easy ticket system, as well as various presentation forums on the Internet and social media, complement the offering, which also includes accompanying print products such as exhibition catalogs.
“We don't compromise when it comes to presenting art,” says Feil. "This is also evident in our picture frames, for example. We have been working with HALBE for 20 years now. We value their flexibility, high quality, and reliability. HALBE has already provided the perfect frames for over 50,000 pictures by our artists. In the case of Anne Geddes, all 150 of the photos on display were framed by HALBE."
In order to construct the complex and demanding new museum building in just 14 months, numerous hurdles and challenges had to be overcome on an almost daily basis, recalls Bernhard Feil. “You had to be on site all the time.”
The result shows that the effort was worth it. And the concept of the NKT as a cosmopolitan meeting place for art and culture enthusiasts has already far exceeded expectations in its opening year. “Great exhibits and happy visitors—both are equally important to us,” says Feil.
Feil owns significant collections by Otmar Alt, Janosch, and James Rizzi. Rizzi once expressed his understanding of art as follows: “The best art is a good heart.” This timeless global pop culture icon lived and worked according to this motto. His motto is also that of the NKT. And so it is fitting that Rizzi's studio will have a permanent home here from October 5.
New Art Museum Tübingen (NKT)
Schaffhausenstraße 123
72072 Tübingen
www.n-k-t.de
Titelbild: © A. Lieventhal, NKT