Kunstmuseum Schloss Derneburg is pleased to announce the installation of a permanent nearly four-meter-tall stained-glass window by acclaimed artist Markus Lüpertz in the Schloss' main entrance hall. Lüpertz's design honors the artistic legacy of Schloss Derneburg as the former home and studio of Lüpertz's friend Georg Baselitz, while embracing the building's historic legacy as a former monastery. Representing Lüpertz's first museum commission in glass, this unique, site-specific installation also pays homage to the landscape and historic monuments found within Gemeinde Holle.

Lüpertz applies an interdisciplinary approach to his iconography, culling not only from modern art history, but from antiquity, literature, poetry, music, and theater. Raised as a Catholic, Lüpertz's early artistic studies in Krefeld and Düsseldorf (1956-61) introduced him to architectural spaces where stained glass transformed by environmental light would yield unique spiritual encounters. The commission at Derneburg intertwines Lüpertz's spheres of influence in a composition that also serves as an homage to the village. Manufactured in the classic Medieval style using lead framing, the hand-blown stained-glass (Bleiverglasung) is comprised of 25 individual panels, and links Schloss Derneburg's historic past with its current purpose as a contemporary museum of art.

In describing this site-specific installation, Lüpertz expressed,

Schloss Derneburg has always been a very special place for me. After Georg Baselitz bought it, I visited there very often and even had my own apartment in the castle for a while. We painted there together and spent many wonderful evenings. I was also very impressed by the landscape around Derneburg… I see the stained-glass window as a tribute to Schloss Derneburg, to its unique history, and, of course, to the time when Georg lived and worked there. At the same time, it refers to the castle's current significance as a place for painting and sculpture. Today, a cultural site of international significance is being developed there with great dedication. The fact that Andy and Christine decided to create a major center for art and culture in this remote location is a great asset to the entire region… - Markus Lüpertz, August 2026

In the center of the window, the Greek gods Athena and Hephaestus each hold tools of artistry, while the flowers at their feet honor the former carnation beds in Derneburg. The configuration of three carp fish, still raised today in the ponds or "Teiche" that were created by the Cistercian monks in the Innerste valley adjacent to the castle, simultaneously suggest the Holy Trinity. Lüpertz incorporates in high detail local sites including the Mausoleum, the Schloss, and the series of ponds which dot either side of the Lavespfad, alongside imagery common in his work, including a skull, a black crow. A suit of medieval armor holding a rod wrapped by a serpent symbolizes the building's history as a military hospital first for the Germans and then the English, while also echoing the knights illustrated in the stained glass windows commissioned by the Münster family in the adjacent Rittersaal (or Knights Hall). At the very top of the composition situated below a rainbow, two gazing figures in white are ambiguous, perhaps suggesting the ownership of the castle over the last hundred years. The commission is completed by the inclusion of four colorful ornamental panels embedded in balcony doors which allude to Lüpertz's dedication to abstraction as well as figuration, and recall the post-war debate which critically aligned his generation of artists.