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Out-there galleries: Four Brandenburg art spaces worth a visit

From castles to power stations, these countryside art hangouts are far from your typical galleries.

Schlossgut Schwante

Maria Loboda, Sculpture in its Private Realm, 2020 © Maria Loboda, courtesy Galerie Thomas Schulte, Berlin, Photo: Hanno Plate

Loretta Würtenberger and husband Daniel Tümpel purchased the dilapidated 18th-century Schwante Castle somewhat impulsively in 2019. These days, they live what seems like a fun but hectic life in the castle with four children, their dogs and their grandparents. The castle grounds have a restaurant and farm shop, and host open-air cinema nights, dance evenings, lectures, concerts and art festivals. Then there’s the main event, the sculpture park.

The revolving door of imaginative sculptures play creatively with their natural surroundings – one of the main aims of the gallery is for its guests to question the relationship between nature and art. In some parts of the park, the sculptures have been left to fend for themselves in the wilderness, with grass and trees enveloping them. There are hammocks and chairs interspersed through the garden, in case you want to relax while pondering the meaning of it all. — Duncan Ballantyne-Way

Schloss Schwante Schloßplatz 1-3, 16727 Oberkrämer, €12, May 21-Oct 16 Sat 11-19 Sun 11-18

Gut Kerkow

Gut Kerkow. Photo: John Brömstrup/ Food & Stories

In the quiet town of Angermünde, in the Uckermark District of Brandenburg, there’s a small ranch with a cheerful little farmyard shop attached to it. The building is full of natural light, which spills in through large windows, accentuating the wooden beams that hold it all together. In the shop there’s produce from the farm, as well as from other regional suppliers – expect to find fresh cuts of meat, creamy cheeses, and local liquors.

The friendly couple behind the shop counter will nudge you upstairs to the art gallery, which is on the top floor. You’ll walk into a bright loft room of wooden beams, rafters and pillars. In the corner, there’s a box TV from the 90s displaying an incoherent video playing on a loop, with an unhinged soundtrack that sounds like a drunk John Wayne chatting to a robot farmer. In the middle of the loft, there’s a shiny strawberry pink and chocolate brown creation. Is it a giant ice cream, or is it some sort of phallic symbolism? There was no consensus among the visitors that day. William Barber

Gut Kerkow Greiffenberger Str. 8, 16278 Angermünde, free entry, 10-18 daily

E-Werk Luckenwalde

Long sleep of amber by Peles Empire, 2021. Photo: IMAGO / Eberhard Thonfeld

When artist Pablo Wendel could no longer afford his electricity bill he had a radical idea – why not just generate the power himself? Years later, he and his partner, curator Helen Turner, brought this idea to life with E-Werk Luckenwalde, a 1910s coal power plant turned sustainable power station and art gallery. Their vision of Kunststrom – power generated by and for art – is at the heart of the project. The entire building, including all the multimedia exhibitions, is powered by E-Werk’s own sustainable energy, energy which is also fed into the grid and used to provide power to people throughout the region.

The space is pleasingly industrial, with ceilings that will put your Altbau to shame and glimpses of antique pastel-green machinery throughout. The turbine room, which once hosted massive energy-producing turbines and now hosts large-scale exhibitions, is particularly impressive. The two other rooms are both smaller and brighter, and all three spaces host a rotation of shows throughout the year. — Grace Henes

E-Werk Luckenwalde Rudolf-Breitscheid-Str. 73, 14943 Luckenwalde, free entry, visits by appointment only

Kulturpark Stolpe

Kulturpark Stolpe. Photo: Sven Hagolani

The Uckermark region is no stranger to transformative art projects, but none can beat Kulturpark Stolpe in terms of scale. The 4.5 hectare former concrete factory will soon be home to a variety of arts and leisure spaces, like a bike hotel, a “green campus” and a number of workshop and studio spaces for artists. Visitors can stop by to check out the small-scale arts and crafts offerings that are starting to trickle in, but it’s worth just poking your head in to experience the enormous empty space and imagine its artistic future. — Grace Henes

Kulturpark Stolpe Am Kanal 2, 16278 Angermünde


Want more Brandenburg tips? Grab a copy of EXB’s Insider’s Guide to Brandenburg – our special new edition packed with the best restaurants, bike tours, hikes, adventures and art spaces in the countryside around Berlin.