Kunsthalle Osnabrück, Art gallery in Gothic church building, Osnabrück, Germany

Kunsthalle Osnabrück occupies the Gothic former monastery church of the Dominican Holy Cross Monastery. The white-plastered building has tall pointed-arch windows, buttresses between them, and a red tiled roof, with a steep gable on the left and a taller gabled section on the right. A vertical sign near the left corner reads "KUNSTHALLE". Inside, exhibitions cover 665 square metres in the nave and 375 square metres in the vestibule and cloister.

The Dominican monastery was founded in the second half of the 13th century on the initiative of Bishop Konrad von Rietberg, and construction began around 1283 on the remains of an older building. The monastery was dissolved in 1803, and the church served as a barracks around 1910, when intermediate ceilings were inserted. After restoration completed in 1966, the city used it for concerts and exhibitions; it was renamed Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche in 1991 and reopened in 1993 with a retrospective of Arnulf Rainer.

The space displays rotating exhibitions of contemporary art by regional, national, and international creators. The works are shown within the distinctive environment that the building provides.

The gallery sits in the old town and is easy to reach on foot. Hours vary between weekdays and weekends, so check ahead before visiting.

The church was used as an infantry barracks around 1910, and intermediate ceilings were built into it for that purpose. The building later served the city as a venue for concerts and exhibitions before being renamed Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche in 1991.