Foundation & Museum

In 2005, entrepreneur and art collector Jürgen A. Messmer established the messmer foundation in memory of his late daughter Petra. The non-profit foundation is the sponsor of the kunsthalle messmer, which opened in 2009 in the historic building complex of the former Riegel brewery. Riegel is a municipality on the Kaiserstuhl, 20 minutes north of Freiburg. 

For about 125 years, the famous Riegel beer was brewed at the foot of the Michaelsberg. Beer has not been brewed in Riegel since 2002; instead, lofts and offices have sprung up in recent years. The former Schwenkhalle is now home to the kunsthalle messmer. The Dreisam, Elz and Glotter rivers meet in front of it.

Up to three large-scale exhibitions are presented each year. Previous public successes include exhibitions on Marc Chagall, Le Corbusier, Victor Vasarely and Salvador Dalì. In addition to individual exhibitions, large-scale group exhibitions on specific thematic complexes, such as water or kinetics, are held time and again. To promote art, the messmer foundation regularly announces the International André Evard Prize for Concrete-Constructive Art, which is aimed at contemporary artists and presented in a large group show.

The messmer foundation, which emerged from the Petra and Jürgen A. Messmer Foundation established on December 28, 2005, is a foundation under civil law with legal capacity. The purpose of the foundation is the promotion of art and culture. The messmer foundation makes it possible to make Jürgen Messmer’s art collection, which has been continuously built up over the past thirty years, accessible to the public in perpetuity. The foundation is independent and pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes.