It was the 127th birthday of the painter Peter August Böckstiegel when work began on the construction of a new museum in his home town of Werther at the foot of the Teutoburg Forest. In just two years, the Museum Peter August Böckstiegel was built in the direct line of sight of the artist's birthplace and now presents the extensive estate of the Expressionist as well as works by his companions and contemporaries to the public in changing exhibitions.
Peter August Böckstiegel was more attached to no place than his home. Born in Arrode (today a district of Werther) in 1889, he was drawn to Dresden at an early age. However, his parents, family and neighbors - in short, the farmers and the Westphalian landscape - remained his most important motifs throughout his life. He returned to Westphalia after his Dresden studio and large parts of his work were destroyed in the bombing raids of February 1945. He added another studio room to the farmhouse and gradually transformed it into an artist's house, which is now a listed building, with mosaics, stained glass windows, wood carvings and sculptures. The portrait heads in the old orchard have since been replaced by casts, but the memory of the artist lives on in the "red house" even after his death. His paintings and sculptures, furniture he designed himself, work materials, photos and personal items belonging to his family bring visitors closer to this extraordinary artist in guided tours.
Appreciation of his work
Böckstiegel's extensive oeuvre, including 1,300 works in the possession of the Peter August Böckstiegel Foundation alone, remained accessible to the public only to a limited extent for a long time. In the new Museum Peter August Böckstiegel, a monolithic-looking new building clad in Franconian shell limestone in the immediate vicinity of the Künstlerhaus, it is now being appropriately honored and shown in temporary exhibitions.
Visitors can also find out how close the painter was to his Westphalian homeland on the Böckstiegel Trail, which takes hikers and cyclists to the Böckstiegel House. 17 signposted stations refer to the life and work of the expressionist. And the idyllic landscape of Werther speaks for itself - why the artist loved being here in Westphalia.
