TRAPASSO – PASSING ACROSS, the exhibition on the finiteness of life at the Diocesan Museum in Paderborn, has touched many people in recent weeks and prompted them to confront often taboo topics and existential questions: What does it mean to pass from life to death? Is there an immortal soul? Or: Who accompanies people on their final journey? This first project in the CONNECT # series presents works by contemporary artists alongside exhibits from the museum’s collection in a moving and poetic dialogue until March 1, 2026.
Image avobe: Photo Harald Morsch
A comprehensive, thematically diverse program of events accompanied the exhibition and explored its themes in greater depth. This program was conceived and organized by the Diocesan Museum’s project partner, the Paderborn Association of Catholic Senior Care Providers (VKA Paderborn e.V.), in conjunction with the emerging VKA Hospice and Palliative Care Center PAULINE. The exhibition space on the museum’s top floor thus became a bustling forum for dialogue between society, art, and faith. To date, the events and guided tours of the TRAPASSO exhibition alone have attracted approximately 1,500 visitors.
“We have received so much positive feedback and confirmation for this first exhibition in our new CONNECT # format,” said Museum Director Dr. Holger Kempkens and Exhibition Curator Dr. Christiane Ruhmann. “Together with the VKA Paderborn e.V., we have succeeded in creating a space for new thoughts and perceptions of the final stage of life. We were also able to reach people for whom our museum is a new place. In doing so, we have achieved an important goal and opened ourselves up to new visitors.”
“The construction of our VKA Hospice and Palliative Care Center PAULINE is supported by broad community engagement. In cooperation with the Diocesan Museum, we pursued the shared goal of raising awareness about the final stage of life and inviting people to actively support this important project. The overwhelming response and the very well-attended events confirm the success of this collaboration,” says Ulrike Molitor, Head of Ethics at VKA.
Program for the closing event on March 1, 2026
TRAPASSO – GOING OVER is on display until Sunday, March 1st. To mark the closing, a curator-led tour with Dr. Christiane Ruhmann will take place at 2:30 pm. At 4 pm, the Trio Emotia will present a musical finale with their benefit concert, “True Words.” Singers Janette Schumacher and Ineta Breidenbach, together with pianist Jörg Schnieder, have compiled a program of songs that address questions also explored in the exhibition: What is important to us in life? What do we want to leave behind? What gives us hope?
The new VKA Hospice and Palliative Care Center PAULINE, run by the Paderborn Association of Catholic Elderly Care (Verbund katholischer Altenhilfe Paderborn e.V.), is being built in the heart of Paderborn, nestled within the large park surrounding the motherhouse of the Sisters of Christian Love. Its aim is to provide compassionate and comprehensive support to the seriously ill and their families on their final journey. Services range from day hospice care and inpatient care to outpatient support and comprehensive ethical counseling.
The Diocesan Museum of Paderborn is the oldest in the German-speaking world. Founded in 1853, it houses one of the most extensive and important collections of medieval to Baroque art in Germany, with a focus on sculpture and goldsmithing. Over the past 25 years, its major art and cultural history exhibitions, which have brought together international loans in Paderborn, have made it well-known far beyond the region.
WHEN?
Finissage: Sunday, 1. March 2026
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am – 6 pm
WHERE?
Diözesanmuseum Paderborn
Markt 17
33098 Paderborn
