“I paint how it is not how it looks” These words by Kurt Mühlenhaupt resonate powerfully here at the Kurt Mühlenhaupt Museum. This isn’t just any museum. It’s a vibrant testament to a life lived intensely a life poured onto canvas and into words.
Before us stands the Kurt Mühlenhaupt Museum. It’s a place dedicated to the multifaceted artist Kurt Mühlenhaupt a painter sculptor and writer. He became known as a Kreuzberg milieu painter. He was part of the Berliner Malerpoeten a group of painter-poets including Günter Grass.
Born in 1921 during a train journey from Prague to Berlin young Kurt’s early life unfolded in Tempelhof. Even as a child he showed artistic talent. He dreamt of becoming a painter. The Second World War intervened. He served as a paratrooper suffering injuries in Crete and later in Africa. Despite the physical and psychological trauma of war his passion for art persevered. He began his art studies in Berlin in 1943.
His experiences in the war deeply affected him. They impacted him physically and mentally for the rest of his life. One old war injury even confined him to bed for two years in 1994. His art reflects the grit and resilience of post-war Berlin. He often portrayed ordinary people from working-class backgrounds.
After the war he continued his artistic journey. He studied at the Berlin University of the Arts. Even when he had to work as a junk dealer a street musician and a pub owner he never abandoned his art. His work often focused on the people and places of Kreuzberg capturing the atmosphere of the city. He gained recognition in 1960 participating in the Great Berlin Art Exhibition. His style blended naive painting with elements of expressionism.
Mühlenhaupt moved to Kladow in 1975. There he established a new studio. He lived there until relocating to Bergsdorf near Oranienburg. The Kurt Mühlenhaupt Museum was located in Bergsdorf for twenty years. In 2020 it found its new home here in Kreuzberg.
Here in the museum you’ll find a wealth of his work. His paintings of Berlin streets and squares from the 1970s and 1990s are particularly well-known. He created paintings of craftsmen waiters and the wives of caretakers. You’ll discover his Brandenburg landscapes his watercolors from Italy and Portugal and posters from his time with the “Kreuzberg Bohemians”. His children’s books are also on display.
Even after nearly going completely blind in his later years Mühlenhaupt continued to create art. He stated that “I have the world in my head”. His legacy lives on in his art in this museum and in the spirit of Kreuzberg. It is a place to reflect on a life devoted to art even amidst great hardship. The Kurt Mühlenhaupt Museum is a true gem of Berlin a place of memories and inspiration.