Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden

Description

On Hesselnberg in Wuppertal lies the Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden, an area designed by the English sculptor Tony Cragg, which has been run as a private museum by the Cragg Foundation, founded in 2005.

The site covers 14 hectares in the Barmer district of Hesselnberg and is named after Villa Waldfrieden (also "Villa Herberts"), the former residence of the chemical entrepreneur Kurt Herberts. Paths and the garden layout follow the historic design plans from the time the villa was built. The park is dominated by a mixed deciduous forest centered on European beech and by more than fifty other species of trees and shrubs, including yews, holly, sycamore maples, ashes, larches and Douglas firs. In addition to the villa, the grounds include several exhibition halls and a restaurant; the sculptures displayed outdoors are positioned so that each can be perceived independently.

Tony Cragg acquired the overgrown site in 2006 with the aim of exhibiting his own works and those of other artists there. His concept links an understanding of nature with art-theoretical considerations; culture appears here as "Second Nature". The presentation is organised into three spatial types: the green cube for outdoor displays, the white cube for diffuse interior lighting and the glass cube with clear panes and direct daylight. The ensemble was supplemented by further exhibition halls; the park opened in September 2008. Through a land swap with the city, the park grounds were expanded by about five hectares in 2012/2013 and an additional hall was constructed; a further circular hall followed in 2017.

The Cragg Foundation, a non-profit foundation established in 2005, operates the sculpture park as a private museum. The permanent exhibition comprises 59 sculptures (as of 2024) by Tony Cragg and numerous international sculptors, including Henry Moore, Jaume Plensa, Thomas Schütte, Joan Miró and Markus Lüpertz.

Since 2009 the park has presented the concert series Klangart under the motto "Art. Music. Nature." with open-air and promenade concerts by international musicians; in parallel, the series Tonleiter for contemporary music takes place annually in the glass pavilion.