ART, NATURE AND NUCLEAR MISSILES

The Ratekenstation (Rocket Station) Hombroich – a missile base no more.

Mr Karl-Heinrich Muller is now my favourite German real estate agent. Who else buys a NATO missile base and turns it into an art museum?

With the Cold War cooling, the Raketenstation at Neuss-Holzheim, a few kilometres south-east of Dusseldorf, was decommissioned. Herr Muller bought it in 1994, along with 62 acres of meadows, lakes and forest in the neighbouring Insel Hombroich park, with the Erft River fast flowing around it.

He commissioned Sculptor Erwin Heerich to construct ten ‘walk-in sculptures’ – buildings set in the gardens to house the collection of works, including some by Rembrandt, Matisse, Alexander Calder and Hans Arp. Artist Anatol Herzfeld lives and works in the grounds.

The result is Museum Insel Hombroich, a living, private museum unlike any we’ve ever seen before.

Art should work in parallel with nature, said Paul Cezanne, and Herr Muller agreed.

Have you ever found yourself spending more time reading the sign next to the painting than looking at the work itself?

A deliberate feature of Insel Hombroich is that there are no signs in the gardens and no interpretative labels by the art works. Even the artists are not identified.

Perhaps I should do likewise in this post…

When it was time to visit the cafe we discovered another unique feature of this museum. Lunch had already been paid for – included in the admission price. No wonder there was a queue for the buffet.

It may not be Michelin hat stuff, but it’s very German and it does the job. And it’s complimentary!

The conservation area around the museum is protected habitat for animal and plant species.

It’s a muskrat. I looked it up.

This is a swan. I already knew that.

Thanks, Theo and Marja for discovering the place and taking us there, and danke schon, Herr Muller!

Combined entry to Museum Insel Hombroich and Raketenstation costs EUR15.