Kunsthalle Mannheim Opens New Wing Funded by Software Magnate

The Kunsthalle Mannheim inaugurated a new wing on June 1, 2018, after three years of construction. The expansion was largely financed by Hans-Werner Hector, a software billionaire, who contributed €50 million of the €68 million total cost. The city of Mannheim provided €10 million, with the remainder from private donations. Designed by Hamburg-based architects Gerkan, Marg und Partner, the concrete, glass, and steel structure features seven exhibition pavilions and a glass-roofed atrium, spanning 13,000 square meters. It connects to the original Jugendstil building from 1909, which houses around 1,500 works by artists including Paul Cézanne, Otto Dix, Vasily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Beckmann, and Francis Bacon. The new wing replaces a 1980s extension deemed inadequate. A long-term loan of 38 works by Anselm Kiefer from billionaire collector Hans Grothe gives the museum the world's largest Kiefer collection. The inaugural exhibition features large-format photographs by Jeff Wall, running until September 9, 2018. Director Ulrike Lorenz described the space as a "city within a city," designed as a community meeting place.