Künstlerhaus, Cultural institution in Mitte, Germany

Künstlerhaus is a listed building at Sophienstraße 2 in Hanover's Mitte district, near the Opera House. Conrad Wilhelm Hase designed it in the round-arch style of the Hanover school, with reliefs and figures by Wilhelm Engelhard and facade statues of Dürer, Vischer, Leibniz and Humboldt by Carl Dopmeyer. It now houses the Kunstverein Hannover, the Literaturhaus, a cinema and the Stiftung Niedersachsen.

Built from 1853 to 1856, the house opened on 23 February 1856 as the Museum für Kunst und Wissenschaft in the presence of King Georg V. The Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Hannover, the Historischer Verein von Niedersachsen and the Verein für öffentliche Kunstsammlungen initiated the project and contributed their collections. After the collections moved to the new Provinzialmuseum in 1902, the Sophienstraße building passed to the city and was converted into the Künstlerhaus.

The building is home to the Kunstverein Hannover, the Literaturhaus Hannover, the Kino im Künstlerhaus, the Stiftung Niedersachsen, the Friedrich-Bödecker-Kreis and the Hannoverscher Künstlerverein. For its 150th anniversary in 2006 the city acquired Stephan Huber's installation "Das Große Leuchten", a huge chandelier hanging over Sophienstraße in front of the main entrance; it lights up and swings from one side of the street to the other during evening events.

The building is centrally located in Mitte and easily accessible by public transportation. Visitors should check the current exhibition schedule in advance, as the program changes regularly throughout the year.

Hanging above Sophienstraße in front of the main entrance is "Das Große Leuchten", a giant chandelier by Stephan Huber bought for the house's 150th anniversary in 2006. During evening events it lights up and swings from one side of the street to the other.