Location: Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten, 2004–25, © Andreas Wengel
About us
The Kunstverein Tiergarten e.V. was founded in the fall of 2004 and, from 2004 to 2025, carried out a dedicated program of exhibitions and events at the municipal cultural venue Galerie Nord in Moabit as part of a collaboration with the Department of Art, Culture, and History of Berlin’s Mitte District Office. For its work, the Kunstverein Tiergarten was nominated multiple times for the ADKV-ART COLOGNE Prize for Art Associations (2022, 2023, 2025, and 2026).
In December 2025, the Mitte District Office decided not to renew the partnership with Kunstverein Tiergarten at Galerie Nord. This decision jeopardizes a sustainable and successful structure that has existed for 21 years.
In 2026, the Kunstverein Tiergarten will be able to carry out its exhibition and educational program at the municipal rk – Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst in the Lichtenberg Town Hall basement.
Starting in 2027, the Kunstverein Tiergarten’s location remains uncertain, its entire program remains at risk. Its members are currently fighting to keep the program going returning to Moabit.
Profile
Thanks to its multifaceted programme—which includes thematic exhibitions, interdisciplinary projects and events, publications, annual editions, public art installations, and the participatory art festival *Ortstermin*, held annually through 2024—the Kunstverein Tiergarten has, since its founding, played a key role establishing Moabit as a Berlin hub for art and culture and has been one of the central institutions for international art and culture in Berlin Mitte. Its program has continuously provided new impetus and set new trends in the cultural life of this multi-ethnic neighborhood, with its influence extending far beyond the district’s borders.
The exhibition and educational program of the Kunstverein Tiergarten was carried out from 2004 to 2017 under the artistic direction of art historian Dr. Ralf F. Hartmann and from 2017 to 2025 under the direction of artist Veronika Witte. Since 2026, Julia Heunemann and Ulrike Riebel have been jointly developing the Kunstverein Tiergarten’s program as artistic directors at its temporary location, the municipal rk – Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin-Lichtenberg.
The Kunstverein Tiergarten’s program focuses on presenting and promoting contemporary and often interdisciplinary art with innovative, critical, and socially relevant potential. The stated aim of the exhibitions, events, and other cultural offerings is to provide a high-quality and diverse range of themes and formats for various segments of the population, as well as a wide array of opportunities for participation.
Numerous active artists, people working in the cultural sector, citizens interested in culture, as well as scholars and others who are committed to promoting art and culture are involved with the Kunstverein Tiergarten. We welcome anyone interested in supporting our work through their involvement and/or financial contributions. You can find membership options here.
Exhibition and Event Program
Each year, the Kunstverein Tiergarten typically presents five exhibitions, as well as numerous events and an educational program. Drawing on its core budget and additional externally secured funding, and in collaboration with local, regional, and international institutions, curators, and artists, the association continually develops and implements new formats. The solo and group exhibitions—most of which are interdisciplinary—focus on contemporary social and cultural processes and forms of expression. The themes explored range from the influence of migration on artistic practices to the potential of empty spaces in public areas, to the impact of old and new technologies on art and social participation.
In addition to traditional educational formats such as guided tours, dialog-based walks, and discussions—which offer insights into artistic concepts and foster exchange on various topics—the Kunstverein Tiergarten organizes in-depth programs such as symposia, performances, readings, and concerts, as well as participatory projects for all generations.
Outreach and Cultural Education
Cultural education projects with schools and after-school programs in Moabit and beyond are an integral part and a key focus of the Kunstverein Tiergarten’s program. These initiatives aim to make artistic practice tangible as a tool for knowledge transfer, research, and cultural tolerance. The exhibition-related activities—which take the form of guided tours and workshops lasting one to several days, the results of which are presented in exhibitions in the gallery’s Kabinett and in screenings in the windows—offer children and young people from schools and youth centers exciting and self-directed opportunities for exploration and experimentation, both indoors and outdoors. Many of these programs also include neighborhood-specific and cross-district explorations of the art world in both public and private spaces. You can find our cultural education programs here.
Annual editions and publications
In addition, the Kunstverein Tiergarten offers annual editions in the form of high-quality works of art. These limited editions or one-of-a-kind pieces are created by artists associated with the Kunstverein Tiergarten and can be purchased here at affordable prices.
A wide range of publications further explore the themes of the exhibition program. You can find a selection of publications from past years here.
Participation and Local Engagement
The Kunstverein Tiergarten provides a platform for various local, regional, and international cultural projects, academic events, and artistic outreach programs that appeal to a broad cross-section of the population, even far beyond the district’s borders. In addition, open calls and calls for participation for various projects offer artists open access to these initiatives.
As a forum for encounters and exchange in the urban space, the Kunstverein Tiergarten organized the Ortstermin annual art festival in Moabit and the Hansaviertel through 2024. As part of this festival, artists and cultural practitioners from all disciplines invited the general public and local community to exhibitions, open studios, public art installations, film programs, performances, educational activities, and concerts. In this way, the festival sustainably fostered connections among local and regional artists, business owners, residents, and social and cultural initiatives.
In the first two decades since the art association was founded, with the support of more than 200 partners and sponsors, an impressive 1,303 artists have been featured in 144 exhibitions, and 890 participants have taken part in a wide variety of exhibitions and other events at Galerie Nord.
Team
Board of Directors
Julia Heunemann and Ulrike Riebel (Chair), Veronika Witte (Treasurer), Antonia Bisig, Sebastian Hirn, Jens-Ole Rey, Dietrich Walther
Artistic Directors
From 2026: Julia Heunemann, cultural studies scholar and curator
Ulrike Riebel, curator
2017–25: Veronika Witte, visual artist and curator
2004–17: Dr. Ralf F. Hartmann, art historian and curator
Administrative Director
2007–26: Bernhard Rose
Curatorial fellows at Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten
2023–25: Janine Pauleck
2020–23: Lusin Reinsch
2018–20: Ulrike Riebel
2016–18: Julia Heunemann
Panoramic photo of Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten, 2004–25, © Michael Zeeh
History
Following the closedown of the former municipal Obere Galerie on Lützowplatz in the 1990s, the Tiergarten district sought an alternative exhibition space to showcase primarily local artistic projects and initiatives. Space was found soon after in the Brüder-Grimm-Haus. Galerie Nord initially had approximately 150 square meters of space at its disposal on the second floor of the building. Until the merger of the former districts of Wedding, Tiergarten, and Mitte, Galerie Nord was a municipal cultural institution of the Tiergarten District Office of Berlin, open primarily to local artists. The exhibitions and events thus offered a representative overview of cultural activities in Moabit. Until 2003, the gallery was directed by Ovid Leonties, who shaped the gallery’s program for more than 10 years.
In the summer of 2003, the District Council decided to consolidate the district’s libraries and, as a result, to close the former children’s and youth library, thereby freeing up its space on the ground floor of the Brüder-Grimm-Haus. At the end of 2003, a specially appointed gallery commission appointed art historian Dr. Ralf F. Hartmann as artistic director and exhibition curator; under his leadership, the newly designed gallery spaces were opened in October 2004 with a fundamentally revised concept. Since then, Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten has been operated as a cooperative management model under the auspices of the Kunstverein Tiergarten in partnership with the Mitte district.
After 14 years as artistic director, Dr. Ralf F. Hartmann moved to the Spandau Cultural Office as head of its Arts and Culture division. Since 2017, Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten has been directed by artist Veronika Witte. In 2026, the Kunstverein Tiergarten presents its exhibition and educational program at the municipal rk – Gallery for Contemporary Art in the Lichtenberg Town Hall basement under the artistic direction of Julia Heunemann and Ulrike Riebel.
From 2006 to 2024, in addition to its comprehensive program at Galerie Nord, the Kunstverein Tiergarten also organized the “Ortstermin” art festival in Moabit, which was initiated by Christian Hamm and Ralf Hartmann. The annual festival of open studios and project spaces ran from 2006 to 2010 under the titles “Moabiter Kulturtage” or “Inselglück” and has been a fixture in Moabit’s cultural life since 2011 under the title “Ortstermin.” Since 2009, the festival has been directed alternately by Christian Hamm and Claudia Beelitz. See: Ortstermin
Location: Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten 2004–2025
From 2004 to 2025, the Kunstverein Tiergarten was located on the ground floor of the Brüder-Grimm-Haus at Turmstraße 75. The massive building complex—a school built in the late 19th century and expanded in 1914, featuring a huge courtyard—today has many different users and serves as a center for education and culture in Moabit
Since October 2004, Galerie Nord | Kunstverein Tiergarten has had over 300 square meters of exhibition space on the ground floor of the building, spread across three rooms. The gallery spaces, with their spacious, panoramic windows facing Turmstraße, offer a wide range of possibilities for presenting visual art and meet the requirements for medium-sized exhibitions and events. The reception area housed a reference library with reference works and exhibition catalogs, which was constantly updated and readily available to interested visitors.