In Memory of Prof. Hans Gercke
– The Color of Distance —
With great shock and sadness, we learned this week that the former, long-serving Director of the Heidelberger Kunstverein, Professor Hans Gercke, passed away on Monday, September 22, 2025, at the age of 84.
At the head of the institution, the art historian shaped the cultural development of our city for a full 36 years through his highly dedicated and ambitious exhibition activities, as well as through his great humanity.
Hans Gercke was born in Kehl in 1941 and studied art history, archaeology, and musicology in Heidelberg and Padua. He then worked as an editor in the arts section of the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung.
In 1970 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Heidelberger Kunstverein, and in 1980 became its first full-time Director. From the beginning, it was important to him—unlike his predecessors—to also present international art and to introduce new formats, such as performances. Members and audiences alike were challenged, but Gercke succeeded in steadily inspiring the people of Heidelberg with contemporary art.
At the same time, the married father of four was deeply committed to supporting local artists and raising awareness among city representatives and the public of local political issues. With exhibitions designed to provoke debate, he and his team denounced the wave of modernization sweeping through Heidelberg’s Old Town in the 1970s—and achieved visible success.
Unforgettable, too, were the exhibitions Der Baum (“The Tree”) on the subject of forest dieback in 1980, as well as the presentation of the Prinzhorn Collection, which at that time did not yet have a home of its own and only came to broader public awareness through its exhibition at the Kunstverein.
Gercke’s incredibly high workload—reflected in the numerous exhibitions each year, always accompanied by publications, and culminating in the legendary exhibition Blau – Die Farbe der Ferne (“Blue – The Color of Distance”) in 1990—was carried out with openness to ideas, respect, and admirable composure. This is how former colleagues and companions describe him, recalling their intensive collaboration with him in preparing this internationally acclaimed exhibition and its catalogue, which is today considered a classic. Blau also marked the inauguration of the Kunstverein’s new building in the garden of the Kurpfälzisches Museum: a Herculean task.
Even before his departure as Director of the Kunstverein in 2006, Hans Gercke had been awarded an honorary professorship at the Heidelberg University of Education, where he continued teaching until just a few years ago. He remained a sought-after curator, speaker, and author. His scholarly and stylistically excellent texts—written in his old townhouse on Werderstraße, always drawing from his vast private library—also form part of his legacy.
The former Director of the Heidelberger Kunstverein was, in every respect, an exceptional figure: his knowledge, his dedication, his creativity, and his work ethic were always accompanied by integrity and humility. This is how we—the Board, the Advisory Council, the team, and surely also many members of the HDKV—will remember him, honoring his memory with deep respect.
Dr. Julia Behrens, Spokesperson of the Advisory Council
Team
Søren Grammel
Director
Fabienne Finkbeiner
Curator
Roberta Pfingsten
Admin
Internship
Luisa May
Visitor Services
Jasmin Al-Hadjadj, Lis Hindenberger, Maya Kandzia, Mira Königs, Georg Streck
Advisory Committee
The Advisory Board of the Heidelberger Kunstverein consists of twelve members who are elected by the Assembly of Members for a period of four years. The Advisory Board assists the Executive Board in an advisory capacity and through active collaboration and is convened at least four times a year. In accordance with § 11 of the Statutes, the elections of the Advisory Board took place at the Annual General Meeting 2022. After the election, the Advisory Board is composed as follows:
Katharina Andes, Inter- and transdisciplinary artist
Dr. Julia Behrens, Artjournalist
Prof. Dr. Dr. Niels Bergemann, Medical Director
Carolin Ellwanger, Commissioner for Fine Arts of the City of Mannheim
Stefan Hohenadl, Former Deputy Head of the Cultural Department of the City of Heidelberg
Dr. Herbert A. Jung, Artist
Cholud Kassem, Artist
Matthias Kutsch, Politician and Heidelberg City council member
Cora Maria Malik, Director Karlstorbahnhof
Claudia Paul, Head of the office of the Centre for Psychosocial Medicine
Jürgen Popig, Theatre Stage Director Dramaturge
Prof. Mario Urlaß, Professor PH Heidelberg
Architecture
In a spacious, light-flooded hall in the heart of Heidelberg's old town, the Heidelberger Kunstverein presents contemporary art on three floors. The building, designed by architect Dieter Quast and awarded a plaque by the Association of German Architects, opened its doors in 1990.
The Kunstverein is located together with the Kurpfälzisches Museum in an idyllic courtyard, accessible from Hauptstraße 97.
Institutional Support


Mission statement
The Heidelberger Kunstverein (HdKV) is dedicated to the exhibition, new production and mediation of regional and (inter)national contemporary art. For more than 150 years, artists of their time have been able to be experienced and discovered here. At the same time, the HDKV aims to act as a public forum for combining aesthetic and social issues and as a lively platform for civil society. In addition to its work on exhibitions, this is achieved through extensive accompanying and educational programmes, which are often based on networks
and initiatives.
With approximately 850 members, the HDKV is one of the art associations with the most members in relation to the number of inhabitants in Heidelberg in Germany.
Heidelberger Kunstverein is a member of Kunst Heidelberg
↓Statutes of the Heidelberger Kunstverein, valid since its founding in 1869.
Board
Dr. Steffen Sigmund, Academic Director, Max Weber Institute for Sociology at the University of Heidelberg
First Chairman
PRof. Dr. Brigitte Sölch, Professor of Architecture and Modern Art History at the University of Heidelberg
Deputy Chairman
Matthias Günther, Managing Director FWD Hausbau- und Grundstücks GmbH
Treasurer
Diana Frasek, Special Education Service Willy-Helpach-School Heidelberg
Ute Clement, Systemic consultant
Previous Website
Artist applications
The exhibition, editions, and educational program of Heidelberger Kunstverein is developed independently and proactively by the artistic team as part of an ongoing curatorial process. Unfortunately, unsolicited artistic and curatorial submissions are not considered in the planning of our program.
We kindly ask for your understanding that we do not accept responsibility for any submitted materials and are unable to return them for cost reasons.
All submissions will be reviewed within the limits of our capacity; however, individual feedback—neither from our side nor in response to inquiries—is unfortunately not possible due to time constraints.