Insel Hombroich: A Unique Nature & Art Preserve in Neuss, Germany

Just minutes from Düsseldorf, Germany Museum Insel Hombroich fuses architecture, art and nature on over 62 acres of meadowland. It is both a park and a museum where spaces are carefully designed so that the visitor experiences an effortless flow between structures and open air.

The inception of Insel Hombroich occurred in 1982 when Düsseldorf, Germany real estate broker Karl Heinrich Müller purchased Rosa Haus, an overgrown villa and garden built in 1816. The Rosa Haus property was bordered by the Erft River, agricultural fields and an abandoned NATO missile base. At the time, Müller was looking for new ways to present his art collection and the Rosa Haus property held that potential.

Müller's vision grew with support from local artists and architects. Landscape Architect Bernhard Korte set about restoring the old gardens and began planning minimalist landscapes. Sculptor Erwin Heerich's elemental sculptures became the design base for the gallery pavilions and artists from the Düsseldorf Academy of Art took up residence. Müller's art collection had found its home and a once neglected parcel of earth became a refuge from dense industry and urban existence.

Insel Hombroich can be seen from the highway, the train and just about every other transit pathway in the area but once within its borders the visitor is transported to tranquility, thus its "island" designation. The journey begins in a dusty, gravel parking lot hidden behind tall hedges. One unpretentious building welcomes guests, serving as the museum's entrance and bookstore. Emerging from the structure, the museumgoer wanders through a woodsy path to a steep incline fitted with stone steps. The park landscape begins to form below in a low lying water meadow and the first of Heerich's geometric pavilions appears.