Founded in 1984, the Kulturstiftung Ruhr considers itself to be an initiator and sponsor of artistic and cultural activities of distinction, primarily internationally significant art history and cultural history exhibitions. It is based in the Villa Hügel and, in addition to its exhibition activities, is responsible for the visitor service of Villa Hügel and accompanies restoration projects.
In 1984, Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Berthold Beitz, chairman of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation until his death in 2013, founded the Kulturstiftung Ruhr. According to its statutes, it aims to “provide new impetus to cultural life in the Ruhr region and set standards and goals”. According to the founder’s wishes, its establishment should “reconnect the Ruhr region more closely with the international intellectual force fields”, “reaffirm its tradition as an important cultural landscape” and thereby help to overcome the resignation that began to paralyse intellectual life in the major industrial cities in the 1980s.
Between 1986 and 1994, the exhibitions of the Kulturstiftung Ruhr were organised under the theme “European Metropolises”. In a period of largely impermeable European borders between East and West, they were intended to keep the memory of the common roots of European tradition alive. This, in addition to its importance in terms of art and cultural history, added a political dimension to its significance. Until 2006, the exhibitions focussed alternately on Flemish painting and Asian antique art. In 2018, Josef Albers was the first modernist artist to be the focus of the exhibition organisers, opening up a whole new perspective at the Villa Hügel. In line with this new guiding principle, the Kulturstiftung Ruhr presented an exhibition on Martin Kippenberger at the Villa Hügel in 2021. By doing so, the Kulturstiftung Ruhr is successfully continuing the tradition of public exhibitions established by the Krupp family in 1953.
The Krupp Foundation and the Kulturstiftung are closely interlinked with one another, both historically and physically. The Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, as the owner of Villa Hügel, and the Kulturstiftung Ruhr are working together successfully to make Villa Hügel accessible to the public both now and in the future, to maintain it and to preserve its historical heritage. To this end, the Krupp Foundation supports the exhibition programme of the Kulturstiftung Ruhr.
In 2023, Villa Hügel and the surrounding park celebrated its 150th anniversary. The Foundation provided EUR 250,000 for the accompanying programme. With the anniversary, the Krupp Foundation aimed to present the Villa Hügel and the surrounding park even more strongly as an open and interesting place that is accessible to all generations. In doing so, the Foundation pursued a participatory and contemporary approach in order to actively involve as many people as possible. In addition to digitalising the hill, including an augmented reality app and making special rooms accessible that could not previously be shown to the public, the Foundation used the special features of the site for a lighting art intervention. Scientific events, panel discussions on current topics as well as a film programme rounded off the anniversary plans.
The Kulturstiftung Ruhr received funding of up to EUR 350,000 from the Krupp Foundation to organise an exhibition of artist’s books and posters by Martin Kippenberger at Villa Hügel. In 2021, the Kulturstiftung Ruhr presented around 120 books, 100 posters and two installations by the artist Martin Kippenberger (1953-1997) under the title “Vergessene Einrichtungsprobleme in der Villa Hügel” (“Forgotten Interior Design Problems at Villa Hügel”). The unusual title is a quote from an artist’s book that Kippenberger created in 1996 on the occasion of an exhibition at the Villa Merkel in Esslingen. All of the exhibited books and posters are owned by the Folkwang Museum. The museum was able to acquire the majority of the artist’s books with two grants from the Krupp Foundation.
