In 2026, weißensee academy of art berlin will celebrate its 80th anniversary and will look to the past and the future with an extensive anniversary program.
Image above: Photo: Rehearsal for a protest action in 1991 on the occasion of the “closure” of the Berlin Weißensee School of Art announced by the Senator for Science, © Claudia Esch-Kenkel.
On the grounds of the former Trumpf chocolate factory, metal sculptor Otto Sticht, together with renowned artists, founded the “Art School of the North” in 1946. Numerous influential figures from the early years – including Mart Stam, Marianne Brandt, Selman Selmanagić, and Herbert Hirche – were closely associated with the Bauhaus. They developed an interdisciplinary teaching concept that combined artistic experimentation, practical craftsmanship, and social reflection.
The founding generation understood design as an attitude, as a transformative, society-changing force – a self-understanding that still distinguishes weißensee academy of art berlin today, as does the close integration of teaching, research and practice.
Founded in the spirit of democratic renewal, weißensee academy of art berlin has had to face new challenges time and again throughout its history: from political co-optation and ideological control in the GDR to profound transformation processes and existential threats after 1989. Despite numerous crises, it has developed into an internationally renowned institution that today – in times of social polarization – consciously focuses on openness, critical debates, and positive visions for the future.
The weißensee academy of art berlin currently educates more than 800 students in the disciplines of sculpture, stage and costume design, painting, fashion design, product design, textile and material design, and visual communication, as well as in the continuing education master’s programs in art therapy and spatial strategies. The class-free system is complemented by in-depth, research-based teaching in theory and history, and by a foundation year.
Graduates and teachers include internationally acclaimed artists and designers such as Bärbel Bohley, Christa Petroff-Bohne, Einar Schleef, Erich John, Daniel Libeskind or Katharina Grosse.
To mark its 80th anniversary, weißensee academy of art berlin is hosting numerous events. Exhibitions such as “CLASS IN WEISSENSE! Wolfgang Peuker and his students” at the Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank Foundation (February 11–July 5, 2026), “Designing for Berlin. Design from the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin” at the Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge (April 16, 2026–February 22, 2027), and the annual exhibition “Rundgang” at the academy (July 11–12, 2026) showcase the spectrum of aesthetic and design practice.
Presentations, symposia and lectures also shed light on historical teaching concepts, transformation processes after 1989 and the question of a critical art academy of the future in the tension between art, science and society.
Anniversary program Summer semester 2026
CLASS IN WEISSENSEE! Wolfgang Peuker and his students
Exhibition of the Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank Foundation
in cooperation with the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin
11.02.–05.07.2026, Tue–Sun 10–6 pm
Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank Foundation
Kaiserdamm 105, 14057 Berlin
Further information: kunstforum.berlin/ausstellung/klasse-in-weissensee
Sustainability Day at Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin
RE:LOKAL – Closing the Loop
Designed by greenlab – Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies
09.04.2026, from 9:30 am
Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin (Aula)
Bühringstraße 20, 13086 Berlin
Registration and information at: greenlab.kh-berlin.de
Design for Berlin. Design from the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art.
Exhibition of the Werkbund Archive – Museum of Things in cooperation with the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin
Curated by Silke Ihden-Rothkirch & Florentine Nadolni
16.04.2026–22.02.2027, Thu–Mon 12–7 pm
Opening: 15.04.2026, 7 pm
Werkbundarchiv – Museum der Dinge
Leipziger Straße 54, 10117 Berlin
Discussions held as part of the exhibition:
21.05.2026, 6 pm: Works for Berlin
With aufsiemitgebrüll, Claudia Schramke, Various & Gould
18.06.2026, 6 pm: Upheavals – from the GDR to the FRG
With Matthias Gubig, Joachim Hamster Damm, Nanne Meyer, Henning Wagenbreth
Weissensee in situ: Archaeologies of an Art Academy
Lecture series for the 80th anniversary
Conceived by the Department of Theory & History
30.04.–02.07.2026, Thu 5–7 pm
Topics and dates: kh-berlin.de
Weissensee Academy of Art Berlin (Aula)
Bühringstraße 20, 13086 Berlin
Culture in transition. The three art colleges in East Berlin
Symposium
Conceived by Jutta Braun, Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam,
in cooperation with the Hanns Eisler School of Music, the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin
04.06.2026, 3–6:30 pm
Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin (Aula)
Bühringstraße 20, 13086 Berlin
Registration and information at: kh-berlin.de
Mart Stam Price
Exhibition of the graduation projects awarded the Mart Stam Prize
A collaboration between the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin and the Mart Stam Society with Galerie Pankow
17.–28.06.2026
Tue–Fri 12–8 pm, Sat–Sun 2–8 pm
Opening: 16.06.2026, 7 pm
Galerie Pankow
Breite Straße 8, 13187 Berlin
www.mart-stam.de
by choice and by chance: seefashion stories 1995–2025
Fashion Images and Fashion Objects as Reflected in Successful Alumni Biographies
Conceived by the Department of Fashion and Theory & History
02.–12.07.2026, Mo–Fr 9–7 pm
Opening: 01.07.2026, 7 pm
Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin (Foyer)
Bühringstraße 20, 13086 Berlin
Guided tour – Open Days
Annual exhibition of all disciplines
11./12.07.2026, 12–8 pm
Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin
Bühringstraße 20, 13086 Berlin
WHEN?
Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin
Bühringstraße 20
13086 Berlin
