29 July–7 September 2025
Caroline
de la
Motte Fouqué
Caroline de la Motte Fouqué was considered one of the most famous writers of her time. The Nekrolog der Deutschen of 1823 stated: “As a writer, the honoured woman is universally known”. Today, however, her name and her works are barely known and largely forgotten.
Fouqué was born in Berlin in 1774 and grew up on the family estate Schloss Nennhausen. In 1803, she married the writer Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. A few years later, she began publishing herself and quickly became famous.
The exhibition invites visitors to rediscover Caroline de la Motte Fouqué's literary world. It focuses on the themes of her works, their reception in the 19th century and the intellectual networks in which she moved.
One letter,
three works
– a lasting impact.
30 March–29 June 2025
Heinrich von Kleist left relatively few handwritten documents of his life and works to posterity. Among them are 178 letters.
In 2024, one of these letters, previously believed lost, re-emerged at an auction. The Kleist-Museum could make this exciting acquisition with the generous support of the Ministry of Sciences, Research and Culture of the Land Brandenburg, the Cultural Foundation of the German Federal States, the Sparkasse Oder-Spree, the Förderkreis Kleist-Museum and a private donor.
The letter, from Kleist to his publisher Georg Andreas Reimer, concerns the publication of three of Kleist’s works: ‘The earthquake in Chile’, ‘The Marquise of O....’ and ‘Kathy of Heilbronn’.
The special exhibition has the dual purpose of revealing this one-of-a-kind acquisition to the public and illustrating the impact this letter has unfolded during the two centuries since Kleist wrote it; the works published in Reimer’s edition in 1810 continue to influence our engagement with Kleist to this day.
Guided by a timeline that uncovers characteristic shifts in the history of readers’ and audiences’ responses to these three works, you’ll see a diverse range of exhibits from the Kleist-Museum’s comprehensive collection, including copies of the first editions, illustrated editions, graphic art that engages with the works, and pieces related to their theatrical productions.
Experiments
"Michael Kohlhaas" in the museum
8 October 2024–23 February 2025
The first version of Heinrich von Kleist's world-famous story "Michael Kohlhaas" was published in June 1808 and is one of the best-known works by the poet and playwright, who was born in Frankfurt an der Oder. The story about the Brandenburg horse dealer of the same name has been read and interpreted many times since its publication. It has been adapted many times for theatre and film and has inspired a large number of artistic and literary works.
The protagonist Michael Kohlhaas has been wronged and initially takes legal action against this and fails. Disappointed by the official state authorities and after the death of his wife, he decides to take the law into his own hands and begins a campaign of revenge, which more and more people join. Towns are burnt down, people are murdered and pillaged. Eventually, the reformer Martin Luther intervenes and mediates between the state and Kohlhaas until the latter is finally vindicated – and ultimately pays for his actions with his life.
Is Kohlhaas a criminal, a troublemaker or just a man striving for justice? How can the story be understood then and now? The exhibition looks for answers and approaches the story in different ways. It links Kleist's "Michael Kohlhaas" with the question of its museum presentation and explores how literature can be presented.
These questions are at the centre of the exhibition, which the curators see as an experimental space in which to experiment with installations, objects and AI. From the classic presentation of the collection to the museum as a place of immersive experience and one's own Kohlhaas story, the public can follow the experiments and experience various facets of Kleist's "Michael Kohlhaas" as a museum object.
Participants
Curation: Milena Rolka & Viviane Jasmin Meierdreeß
Design: Studio Ra, Berlin
Funded by: The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Ministry of Science, Research and Culture (State of Brandenburg), City of Frankfurt (Oder)