Voluntary heroes: 25 years of commitment to the Overbeck Museum

Voluntary heroes: 25 years of commitment to the Overbeck Museum

Around the Overbeck Museum in Bremen-Vegesack blows a touch of history and passion, supported by volunteers who have shaped the museum for over 20 years. Martin Hausmann, who is now 88 years old, has been supporting the museum for almost 25 years. Growing up in the artist village of Worpswede, he has a deep connection to art and likes to remember how he stole apples in the garden of the painter Fritz Mackensen with his friends, who tried to drive them out with an air rifle but never scored. His father, Manfred Hausmann, was a writer and poet, a real art lover who collected works by Worpsweder artists. Weser-Kurier reports that the home manager, supported by the museum leader Katja pourshirazi, Welcome the visitors and have an eye on compliance with the exhibition conditions.

This year the Overbeck Museum, which was founded by Gertrud Overbeck in 1988, celebrates 35 years of its existence. The museum not only shows works by the painter couple Fritz and Hermine Overbeck, but also a selection of landscape paintings, still lifes and plant drawings. Museum Digital Bremen points out that the exhibitions change quarterly and present a wide range of artistic work, from oil paintings and watercolors to etchings and drawings. Other offers of the museum include tours, short lectures and museum educational programs that aim to bring younger visitors closer to art.

The voluntary commitment

Bärbel Fuhrmann, who came to the Overbeck Museum in 2002 through an internship, tells of her long journey in the museum. Their beginnings were shaped by further training after she could no longer work as a utility manager due to an illness. In the museum, she took on tasks at the cash register and worked on the list of the canvas of Fritz Overbeck. Weser-Kurier reports that Fuhrmann has a total of 56 exhibitions and in particular a special exhibition in memory, with who had to be reinstalled the paintings. After a short break, she returned to the museum as a voluntary supervision in 2023 and describes it as her "second living room".

Martin Hausmann emphasizes that the museum has undergone a phase of professionalization since 2007, but the basic idea of ​​the exhibitions remains unchanged. With the merger of the museum with the cultural office Bremen-Nord, the Overbeck Museum not only received more permanent employees, but also opened up the opportunity to break new ground through digital offers. Fuhrmann and Hausmann agree that digitization also has changes that are not allowed to be neglected.

A look at landscape painting

The range of art in the Overbeck Museum reflects the inspiration of nature. BV-Pfalz addresses the relationship between man and nature in landscape painting in the 19th century. Works such as the painting "The Hechtsee near Oberaudorf" by Karl Millner impressively show how landscape art shapes our understanding of the connection to nature. This perspective can also be felt in the Overbeck Museum, where the atmosphere of nature makes every visit a special experience.

The volunteers make an invaluable contribution, not only for the smooth process in the museum, but also for the lively cultural history of Bremen-Vegesack. Martin and Ingrid Hausmann and Bärbel Fuhrmann show that commitment and passion have handed hand in hand and have made the Overbeck Museum a place that means a piece of homeland for both visitors and help.