The 1900s Marckhoff-Rosenstein Villa Houses the Kunstmuseum Bochum

At Kortumstraße, the Kunstmuseum Bochum is located in the Stadtparkviertel district. The Bochumer Stadtpark lies opposite the museum and contains several art objects made of steel. The museum dates back to 1921 as the Städtische Gemäldegalerie, which originally opened in three rooms of the Alten Knappschaftsgebäude.

The gallery moved through several locations, including the Deutsche Ammoniak-Verkaufs-Vereinigung in 1924 and Villa Nora in 1926. The gallery remained in Villa Nora until it was heavily destroyed during World War II. Following a scandal involving a failed purchase of a collection, the city began commissioning art in 1960. The institution became the Städtische Kunstgalerie and moved into the historicist double villa Marckhoff-Rosenstein, built in 1900.

In 1983, the villa was expanded by a new building designed by Danish architects Jørgen Bo and Vilhelm Wohlert, which required the demolition of two Jugendstil villas. The museum gradually moved into the new building because the post-war roof structure was too heavy for the old villa's exterior walls. In 2003, the Moritz Fiege brewery launched the 'Initiative Villa Marckhoff' to renovate the facade, with work taking place between 2009 and 2010.

Since 2020, the museum's own collection has been viewable in the old part of the building. The historic villa has been a city monument since 1994 and was listed in the 'Route der Industriekultur' in 2014. The new building was entered into the monument list in April 2025, and the museum was named the 'Monument of the Month' in Westfalen-Lippe in January 2026.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons