Built in 1961/62 according to the plans of Wiesbaden architect Rainer Schell, the multi-purpose building with a large event hall is now a listed building. It is also a typical example of early 1960s architecture, albeit of above-average quality. The reinforced concrete construction and the modular grid used can be read consistently on the inside and outside of the strictly cubist building.
The calm and restrained design of the facades continues inside and impresses again and again with its simplicity and clear forms as well as the uniformly used materials. After a conversion and extension in accordance with the preservation order, the SCHROTH ROOM was created in 2016 with the glazing of the atrium. Here, the Conceptual Art Foundation shows works by national and international artists.
In the Morgner Hall, the house documents in a large permanent exhibition the works of the painter Wilhelm Morgner, who was considered degenerate under National Socialism. Wilhelm Morgner, born in Soest in 1891 and killed in action in World War I as early as 1917, left behind a large number of works despite his young and only brief creative period. Morgner's paintings were featured in the almanac "Der Blaue Reiter", among others. 60 paintings and over 400 drawings and graphic works form the center of the museum named after him.
In a permanent exhibition, these pictorial works are shown in rotation in the large hall. Morgner's work, which was created in the few years between 1908 and 1917, reflects, as it were in a burning glass, the artistic development at the end of the Empire from naturalistic painting to completely abstract composition.
Wilhelm Morgner is considered a talented pioneer of modernism in Westfalen. In addition to the presentation of his expressionist œuvre , the Wilhelm Morgner Museum also houses exhibits by well-known artists such as Otto Modersohn, Christian Rohlfs, Hans Kaiser, Franz Nölken, Arnold Topp, Eberhard Viegener, Wilhelm Wulff and many more. The art holdings of the city of Soest extend to more than 3,500 works by various artists who were related to Soest or exhibited here. Changing exhibitions present works from Soest's rich art holdings as well as contemporary art.
The Remter, located to the east of the Wilhelm Morgner Museum, was the dining hall (refectory) of the collegiate monastery of St. Patrokli. It was built around 1300 and today serves as the parish hall of the provost congregation of St. Patrokli. Of the original cloister, only the north wing, built in the 12th century, and the west wing, built in the 13th century and integrated into the refectory, remain today. The south and east wings of the cloister were demolished after the abolition of the monastery in the 19th century and rebuilt on the old ground plan between 1953 and 1955.
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