Museum Goch

In the town of Goch in the administrative district of Düsseldorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, Museum Goch plays a central role in preserving and communicating local history as well as artistic positions.

The collection began shortly after the First World War through the initiative of a private collector who provided furniture, household items, paintings and extensive documents relating to local figures and events of the Napoleonic campaign on the Lower Rhine. In 1920 this became the first local history museum in the Steintor. After the city's destruction in 1945 only parts of the holdings survived; in 1956 the museum was reopened at the same site. A decisive step came in 1991 with the move into the elaborately restored former district court on Kastellstraße, which has since served as an exhibition and research venue for local and regional topics.

The museum has expanded its scope and now operates several affiliated houses. The Arnold-Janssen-Haus on the market square, the birthplace of Saint Arnold Janssen, is used as a memorial with historic rooms and changing exhibitions. The Königshaus on Königsstraße hosts painting and creative courses, including classical painting and drawing as well as pottery and the firing of small sculptures. The Haus zu den Fünf Ringen, a Gothic burgher house dating from the 16th century, came to the museum as a loan; after conservation-minded exterior restoration and the partial removal of later interior alterations it is used for temporary exhibitions on the city's history.

The collection and exhibition strategy links regional history with an open concept of art. Temporary and permanent exhibitions make use of the ground-floor and attic levels, and the museum's own presentation on the first floor does not follow a strictly chronological order. Sculptures from the Late Gothic Lower Rhine region are placed in dialogue with neo-Gothic works from the Langenberg workshop and with works by young contemporary artists from Germany, Cuba, South Africa and Israel. In this way the museum presents itself as a living place of historical knowledge and artistic encounter.