Kunsthochschule Kassel

• Name — Kunsthochschule Kassel • Native Name — Kunsthochschule Kassel • Former Names — Kassel Art Academy • Type — Public university • City — Kassel • State — Hesse • Country — Germany • Affiliations — University of Kassel • Website — http: www.kunsthochschule-kassel.de

After the war, the arts and crafts school was reopened in 1946 under the name “School for Crafts and Art”, later “Werkkunstschule”, and in 1947 the academy was reopened under the name “Werkakademie”. This became the “State University of Fine Arts” in 1960. Thanks to the protected position of the professor and documenta founder Arnold Bode, after his success in 1962, expansion took place through the didactic interpretation of practice and application within the Kassel school. During this time, the Werkkunstschule gained a good reputation under director Jupp Ernst. In 1962 she moved into a new building by Paul Friedrich Posenenske on the edge of Karlsaue. In 1968 the state university followed in an immediately neighboring building. Two years later, the so-called “College of Fine Arts” merged. In 1971, the Kassel Comprehensive University was founded and all university-like facilities in Kassel and Witzenhausen were integrated into the new university. Initially, in the founding phase, the organizational units 04 Gestalt Theory, 05 Painting/Sculpture, 06 Architecture/Landscape Architecture, 07 Graphic Design, 08 Industrial Design and 09 Art Studies emerged from the “College of Fine Arts”. In 1977, the OE Architecture/Landscape Architecture moved from Karlsaue to Holländischer Platz. This heralded the separation of architecture from the other artistic/design subjects, although some areas of architecture remained at Karlsaue until the end of the 1990s. In the development phase, departments were formed from the organizational units in 1978: FB 10 Art and FB 11 Design (as of the SS 1979 course catalog). The OE Architecture/Landscape Architecture has already been merged with the OE Architecture of the former technical college (the engineering school) and the FB 12 Architecture and the FB 13 Urban Planning, Landscape Planning emerged from the OE Architecture, Urban Planning, Landscape Planning. These two departments went to the Kassel University as Study Area I and later to the University of Kassel as FB 06 ASL – Architecture, Urban planning, landscape planning outside of art school. This meant that the artistic/design area lost the landscape/architecture, even if interdisciplinary collaboration continued for a long time. During this time, the Technical Center was founded as an interdisciplinary unit that brings together workshops and laboratories primarily for students of artistic and design courses. The “HbK” still existed in the old buildings on Karlsaue, while the growing comprehensive university filled several locations and the new, central campus on Holländischer Platz. The university stood out over the years as a “college of fine arts” thanks to its experimentalism, particularly in architecture and openness. The protagonist of this phase is the “earth building pope” Gernot Minke, who aggressively succeeded in combining targeted discussion and applied practice. Eberhard Fiebig was also a representative of this phase until the late 1980s. During this time, the school developed its own, integrated system of presentation and communication. Nevertheless, Lucius Burckhardt, socio-economist and urban planner, who cultivated open space and walking sciences for many years, is a representative of this time, although he belongs to the Department of Architecture, urban planning, landscape planning. In the summer semester of 1980, the artistic/design area was reorganized into three departments: FB 22 Art, FB 23 Visual Communication and FB 24 Product Design (initially counting FB 10/1–3). This structure was maintained for 20 years, until the late 1990s.

Kunsthochschule Kassel (KhK) offers academic programs in the areas of fine arts, design, art education, and art history. The institution follows an interdisciplinary approach, with opportunities for students to engage with both artistic practice and theoretical study.

KhK offers the following degree-granting programs: • Fine Arts: A program leading to an artistic degree, covering a range of studio-based practices. • Product Design: A diploma program with subject areas including industrial design, furniture design, exhibition architecture, and textile product design. • Visual Communication: An artistic degree program offering areas of focus such as animation, film and moving image, photography, games, illustration and comics, new media, graphic design, sound, and visual theory. • Art Education: Programs qualifying students to teach art in primary and secondary schools, including tracks in special education. • Art History and Aesthetics: Programs at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels, covering historical and theoretical analysis of art.

Postgraduate opportunities at KhK include master's degrees, artistic qualification phases, doctoral studies, and habilitation. These options are designed for further specialization in academic or artistic fields.

The university maintains 14 technical and artistic workshops that support instruction and independent project work. These include facilities for photography, book and paper, ceramics, metal, textiles, screen printing, typography, digital production, and other media.

Kunsthochschule Kassel participates in international academic exchange and mobility programs. The institution maintains partnerships with art and design schools in other countries and supports students in arranging study abroad, internships, and academic exchanges.

• Daniel Stieglitz (born 1980), caricature artist, director and writer. • Peter Angermann (born 1945), painter • Sinan Akkuş (born 1971), director, writer and actor • Julius Bien (1826−1909) • August Bromeis • Paul Ehrhardt (1888−1981), student 1929−1931 • Bernd Friedmann • Horst Gläsker • Ludwig Emil Grimm • Dörte Helm (1898−1941), student 1915−1918 • Annie Höfken-Hempel (1899–1965), sculptor • Siglinde Kallnbach, attended 1976−1983 • Harry Kramer • Eduard Niczky • Bjørn Melhus • Eva Moll • Amalie Tischbein • Halsey Rodman • Wilhelm Schmidthild • Miao Xiaochun