Alfred Schmela Galerie, Art gallery in Altstadt, Germany

The Alfred Schmela Galerie is housed in the Schmela-Haus on Mutter-Ey-Straße, built 1967–1971 by Aldo van Eyck in the Structuralist style. Its facade is clad in prefabricated concrete blocks, with the concrete lintels left visible above the openings. Inside, five levels (three above ground, two below) hold interlocking rooms of bare pumice-concrete block, concrete ceilings and marble floors, plus a seating corner.

The gallery opened in 1957 and relocated to its current building in 1971, designed by Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck of the Team X group. This move marked the beginning of its most influential period as a center for post-war artistic experimentation.

Alfred Schmela opened the gallery on 31 May 1957 with Yves Klein's first German show, Proportions monochromes; Pierre Restany gave the opening speech. On 26 November 1965 Joseph Beuys performed wie man dem toten Hasen die Bilder erklärt here at his first solo show in a commercial gallery. A Tate curator called it "The most human gallery in the world", and midday home cooking was served to guests.

The gallery sits on Mutter-Ey-Strasse in the Altstadt district and is accessed through interconnected levels requiring visitors to navigate stairs. Planning to spend time moving between floors helps you discover all exhibition areas without feeling rushed.

Aldo van Eyck planned a glazed cylinder at the centre of the house as a connecting element, but Alfred Schmela had it changed to gain more living space. In 1995 the architect Günter Zamp Kelp closed the original passage and converted it into a shop and exhibition room.