The Brücke Muse­um is a renowned art insti­tu­tion ded­i­cat­ed to the works of the Die Brücke (‘The Bridge’) expres­sion­ist move­ment. Estab­lished in 1967, it hous­es a sig­nif­i­cant col­lec­tion of paint­ings, sculp­tures, and graph­ic art from ear­ly 20th-cen­tu­ry artists like Ernst Lud­wig Kirch­n­er and Emil Nolde. This muse­um offers a cap­ti­vat­ing glimpse into the vibrant, avant-garde art of the time.

She [Corinne “Coco” Schwab, Bowie’s assis­tant and friend] went with him to the Brücke Muse­um, to gaze at the works of Kirch­n­er, Koll­witz and Heck­el. The expres­sion­ists’ rough, bold strokes and melan­cholic mood cap­tured a sense of the ephemer­al, as well as Bowie’s imag­i­na­tion.

– Rory McLean, 2016

David Bowie had a sig­nif­i­cant con­nec­tion to Berlin’s Brücke Muse­um, drawn to the expres­sive art of the ‘Die Brücke’ move­ment. The paint­ing “Roquairol” by the Expres­sion­ist artist Erich Heck­el, who was a mem­ber of the ‘Die Brücke’ move­ment, famous­ly served as the inspi­ra­tion for the album cov­ers of “Heroes” (1977) by David Bowie and “The Idiot” (1977) by Iggy Pop. Bowie’s vis­its to the muse­um deeply influ­enced his artis­tic endeav­ors.

Since my teenage years I had obsessed on the angst rid­den, emo­tion­al work of the expres­sion­ists, both artists and film mak­ers, and Berlin had been their spir­i­tu­al home. This was the nub of ‘Die Brücke’ move­ment, Max Rhein­hardt, Brecht and where ‘Metrop­o­lis’ and ‘Cali­gari’ had orig­i­nat­ed. It was an art form that mir­rored life not by event but by mood. This was where I felt my work was going. […]

– David Bowie, Uncut, 1999

Q: What places would you like to vis­it again in Berlin?

A: Since I’m such an art enthu­si­ast, I would love to vis­it the Brücke Muse­um again. This art peri­od has always appealed to me per­son­al­ly. It would be some­thing like a pil­grim­age for me.

– David Bowie, Tagesspiegel, 2002

External links

• View on Google Maps
• Offi­cial Web­site