July 19 – TIP: Museum Festival in Baden-Baden

Baden-Baden’s Museum Mile Celebrates

On Sunday, the theme in Baden-Baden is "Four Museums – One Festival": the Museum Frieder Burda, the Staatliche Kunsthalle, the Museum LA8, and the City Museum have prepared a varied program of events

Sunday, July 19, 2026 – Grand Museum Festival in Baden-Baden – 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. along the Lichtentaler Allee – Free admission! (ENGLISH, FRANÇAIS, DEUTSCH)

Baden-Baden. Four museums, one festival! The time has come again: the grand museum festival kicks off on Baden-Baden’s Museum Mile on Sunday, July 19. This time, the festival is not taking place on July 14 (Frieder Burda’s birthday) but—as the calendar dictates—on Sunday, July 19, 2026. Once again, the motto is "Four Museums – One Festival." The Museum Frieder Burda, the Staatliche Kunsthalle, the Museum LA8, and the City Museum—all located along the route from the Kurpark to Lichtental (on the Lichtentaler Allee)—have jointly prepared a colorful program of events.

 

Baden-Baden City Museum – July 2026, Photo: Helga Waess

 

Program for Sunday, July 19, 2026

Museum Frieder Burda, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Museum LA8, and the City Museum

• The four museums are offering free guided tours of their current exhibitions. 
• Museum Frieder Burda 

 

Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, July 2026, Photo: Helga Waess

 

    Exhibition "Rivalry with Reality: 60 Years of Photorealism"

    With the exhibition *Rivalry with Reality: 60 Years of Photorealism*, Museum Frieder Burda turns its attention to one of the most consistent movements in post-World War II figurative painting. ... 
     Mit der Ausstellung Wettstreit mit der Wirklichkeit. 60 Jahre Fotorealismus widmet sich das Museum Frieder Burda einer der konsequentesten Bewegungen der gegenständlichen Malerei nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg

•     Runs until August 2, 2026, in Baden-Baden ... bis 2. August 2026 in Baden-Baden

Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Photo: Helga Waess

Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden 

•      Special exhibition "Bloom Up! The Language of Flowers"

Museum LA8 – July 2026, Photo: Andreas Waess

 

Museum LA8 

     Exhibition "Vanitas: The Beauty of the Transitory" 

 

Baden-Baden City Museum – July 2026, Photo: Helga Waess

City Museum - Baden-Baden

•     Exhibition: "2,000 Years in 50 Objects"

The museum festival also features:

    Live music
    Workshops
    Artist talks
    Food and drink options

Guided tours of the four museums

Tours always begin at the City Museum and proceed towards the Museum LA8

•     Heike Kronenwett (City Museum Baden-Baden),
•     Dr. Dieter Kistner (Museum LA8),
•     Christina Lehnert (Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden),
•     Dr. Daniel Zamani (Museum Frieder Burda)

•     Times: 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.
•     Duration: approx. 60 minutes each
•     Tickets are free—pick them up at the City Museum approx. one hour before the tour starts

Lichtentaler Allee towards the Kurhaus; photo: Helga Waess

For children, there is a puzzle rally spanning all four museums

Each venue has prepared a tricky question!!!

Café garden in front of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden; photo: Andreas Waess – July 2026

 

Also taking place: "kunst findet stadt" (Art Meets City), 

an open-air exhibition by Tobias Rehberger

• in the spa gardens (Kurgarten) in front of the Baden-Baden Kurhaus

We also recommend the open-air exhibition "kunst findet stadt." Here, artist
Tobias Rehberger presents his works, with the official opening on July 18 and free admission.

 

Grand Museum Festival in BADEN-BADEN

City Museum, Museum Frieder Burda, Kunsthalle, Museum LA8

•     Museum Mile (Lichtentaler Allee) – FREE ADMISSION!
•     Sunday, July 19, 2026
•     Time: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

 

 

 

Until August 2 – Photorealism at Museum Frieder Burda

Exhibition Recommendation: Photorealism at Museum Frieder Burda

With the exhibition *Rivalry with Reality: 60 Years of Photorealism*, Museum Frieder Burda turns its attention to one of the most consistent movements in post-World War II figurative painting

Until August 2, 2026, in Baden-Baden: RIVALRY WITH REALITY: 60 YEARS OF PHOTOREALISM - WETTSTREIT MIT DER WIRKLICHKEIT. 60 JAHRE FOTOREALISMUS  - - -  (ENGLISH, FRANÇAIS, DEUTSCH, NEDERLANDS, ITALIANO)

Baden-Baden. Visitors to the Museum Frieder Burda can hardly believe their eyes. Is this really a painting? One is confronted with photorealistic paintings that capture their subjects with a fidelity usually associated only with the art of photography. Photography has long since established itself as an art form in its own right, making its way into museums and major international art collections. Those who visit the Stephen Hoffman Gallery in Munich will find "blue-chip" works on the walls—images that only great photographers could see and capture. And then, a visitor might step into a painting exhibition and—once again—hardly believe their eyes. With the exhibition *Rivalry with Reality: 60 Years of Photorealism*, the Museum Frieder Burda turns its attention to one of the most uncompromising movements in post-World War II figurative painting. Emerging in the USA in the mid-1960s, this style represents an art form that takes the photographic view of the world as its starting point and reproduces it using painterly techniques to create an illusionistic effect. Returning to the subject of Munich: paintings by Richard Estes can be found there at the Jeanne Gallery—works that, again, defy the viewer's belief that they are actually paintings. One thing is certain: I intend to see this exhibition another one or even two times!

Baden-Baden: A poster outside the Kurpark at the town entrance—not an advertisement for a furniture store, but for a painting exhibition that leaves visitors amazed. Photo: Helga Waess (July 3, 2026 – Press Photo Archive)

The exhibition presents over 90 visually striking works by more than 30 artists spanning six decades.

They demonstrate how the pursuit of realism was redefined through technical precision—ranging from early figures such as Robert Bechtle, Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, and Audrey Flack to contemporary international developments.

 

The exhibition is based on the Frieder Burda Collection, supplemented by outstanding loans from around 20 international collections, including the

•     Whitney Museum of American Art in New York
•     and the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.

Poster for the exhibition *Competing with Reality*, photo: Helga Waess (Press Photo Archive – July 3, 2026)

With summer temperatures prevailing, July offers a final opportunity to visit the exhibition *Competing with Reality: 60 Years of Photorealism* in the museum’s pleasantly air-conditioned galleries; the show runs until August 2.

In an era of virtual realities that are difficult to verify, the exhibition invites visitors to question their perceptions, view the familiar from a new perspective, and explore the relationship between reality and illusion.

Gain unique insights into the exhibition through public guided tours:

•     Saturdays and Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
•     Fridays at 3:00 p.m.