The New Art Museum Tübingen
The start of a new construction project is often associated with a mixture of excitement and unpredictability. New questions arise with every ground-breaking ceremony: 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 to Bernhard Feil, founder of the Neues Kunstmuseum 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 – Panic 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.
With the Geddes exhibition, Tübingen became the only stage in the world to present the life’s work of this great 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 appeal to the public and an extensive and prominent cultural program including talk shows (e.g. “Gysis Begegnungen”), talks with Fran Lebowitz and Gero von Boehm, lectures such as “Kulturköpfe” and live acts, we have established the NKT as a permanent cultural fixture in the southwest of Germany within just a few months.”
“On the occasion of the 75th birthday of James Rizzi (1950 – 2011) on October 5, 2025, we are showing the unique life’s work of this New York Pop Art legend with the exhibition ‘Home Away From Home’ and, with the simultaneous opening of his former studio – with many original pieces of furniture and works of art – from Soho/Manhattan, we are 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 Lüneburg. He thus hits the “brand essence” of the NKT exactly. “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 inspire local tourism and are a location factor for companies. The NKT has been cooperating with municipal institutions and cultural facilities from the outset and is continuously expanding this cooperation for the benefit of all.
“The NKT is completely privately financed. In view of the current pressure to make savings in almost all areas of culture, we want our museum to send out a signal that economic success in the presentation, mediation and discourse of art and culture at the highest level is possible even without public funding,” says Bernhard Feil. “We are expecting our one hundred thousandth visitor this year. And in 2026, we predict that there will be more than 150,000 thanks to world-famous artists showing their works at the NKT.”
In addition, the NKT is also a stage for talents and young artists, offers attractive programs for schools and is open to local, regional and national collaborations for exhibitions and events.
“Our striking cuboid, a bold, two-storey structure made of steel and glass, built by Eisele-Architektur in just 14 months over the existing buildings of the Art 28 gallery and art dealership using ecologically sustainable construction methods and state-of-the-art technology, is the new cultural and tourist highlight of the university town of Tübingen.”
The architecturally open and transparent approach to art and culture played a major role in the initiators’ considerations and in the conception of the museum from the very beginning. The art on display is also embedded in the lives of the artists.
“Just as the social and local environment of the artists influences their works, we also see the NKT with its exhibitions and events in a constant exchange and discourse with the city and its residents and visitors,” says Bernhard Feil.
The NKT relies on the latest technical forms of presentation for its exhibitions and cultural program. A dedicated cinema with a large LED screen, information displays, attractive audio guides and a quick and easy ticket system as well as various presentation forums on the Internet and on social media complete the offer, which also includes accompanying print products such as exhibition catalogs.
“We make no compromises when it comes to the presentation of art,” says Feil. “This is also evident in the picture frames, for example. We have been working with HALBE for 20 years. We appreciate their flexibility, high quality and reliability. HALBE has already provided over 50,000 of our artists’ pictures with the right frame. At Anne Geddes, all 150 photos on display were even framed by HALBE.”
Looking back, Bernhard Feil says that numerous almost daily hurdles and challenges had to be overcome in order to construct the new museum building, which was as complex as it was demanding, in just 14 months. “You had to be on site the whole time”.
The result shows: The effort has paid off. 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 important 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 pop culture world star 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.
Neues Kunstmuseum Tübingen (NKT)
Schaffhausenstraße 123
72072 Tübingen
www.n-k-t.de
Cover picture: © A. Lieventhal, NKT