Kunstverein Friedrichshafen was founded with the aim of promoting contemporary art. Through exhibitions and an extensive outreach program, it contributes to current discourses in contemporary art, reflects its diverse forms of expression, and engages with them critically. A particular focus is placed on supporting emerging artistic positions that explore social issues. Kunstverein Friedrichshafen regularly fosters artistic production, practice, and quality through new commissions, publications, and a dialogue-based accompanying program. Its programmatic orientation emphasizes sustainable artistic research, collaborative processes, and long-term relationships—with artists, the public, and both the local and wider cultural context. In close cooperation with institutions, initiatives, and cultural professionals from the four-country region around Lake Constance, the Kunstverein strengthens the visibility and vitality of the independent art scene and functions as a cultural laboratory for social exploration and speculative futures.

Founding and Mission

Kunstverein Friedrichshafen was established in 1983 by individuals who sought to enrich the city’s cultural life in the field of fine and contemporary arts. Its founding coincided with the opening of the Graf-Zeppelin-Haus (GZH) and the introduction of professional cultural management in the areas of theatre and music. The founding members Lutz Tittel (then Director of the Bodensee Museum), artist Thom Barth, and Wolfgang Kreh defined the association’s purpose in its statutes:

The association aims to promote the fine arts—primarily contemporary art—and to foster understanding of art. This shall be achieved through exhibitions and other artistic events.

The first board included Dr. Wolfgang Brech, District Administrator Bernd Wiedmann, and art historian Behrend Finke. Today, the Kunstverein continues to count representatives from local government, city council, and other influential figures in the city’s public life among its members.

Location and Program

Since 1996, the Kunstverein has been located in the center of Friedrichshafen, directly beneath the harbour railway station. It has become a key venue for contemporary art in the city, the Lake Constance region, and beyond—nationally and internationally. With four exhibitions per year, accompanied by a rich program of guided tours, talks, performances, and artist conversations, the Kunstverein makes a significant contribution to Friedrichshafen’s cultural offerings.

Programm 2024/25

Surrounded by water and mountains, the Kunstverein Friedrichshafen fulfills a unique poetic role: it is an exhibition space situated on Lake Constance—a region shared by four countries that offers a variety of perspectives.
In 2024 and 2025, the Kunstverein’s exhibitions focus on the concept of “place.” This theme encompasses not only physical location, but also the idea of a communal space, a place of refuge, or a realm of imagination. The Kunstverein Friedrichshafen sees itself as a site for exchange, reflection, and open dialogue; a space of possibility, not only for artistic processes but also for shared thinking, encounters, and active participation.

The 2024 exhibition program presented artists and artist duos whose creative processes posed questions about “place”: How do we use places individually and collectively? How important and valuable is a closer look at the everyday world around us and at how we want to live?

The featured artists engaged in site-specific and artistic research: collaborating, shifting perspectives, documenting, and ultimately creating new in-between spaces within the Kunstverein. These experiments often bridged opposites, briefly transforming the Kunstverein into a place of the future. In 2025, the concept of “place” will be expanded and explored further—no longer through singular artistic voices, but through collectives, groups, and duos. Collaboration will become visible in the exhibition space itself. Collective authorship will investigate new forms of cooperation. Additionally, the focus will broaden to include the expansion of the city of Friedrichshafen and its connection to nearby and distant locations. The exhibitions are planned to extend beyond the Kunstverein’s walls, resonating across rural and urban spaces.
Artists presented in 2024 and 2025: Angyvir Padilla, Tamara Goehringer, Xiaopeng Zhou, Super Vivaz, Hoël Duret, Marta Dyachenko, Ben Saint-Maxent, Sophie T. Lvoff, Peles Duo, PARA, and the collective DORF.

Mitgliederausstellungen

Exhibitions were held in 2003, 2013, 2019, and 2023.

Participating artists
(incomplete list of members to be expanded)