Long live romance! B.C. Cuckoo House in Kleve reopens from Sunday, Aug. 31

He is considered one of the most important Dutch painters of the 19th century, alongside Vincent van Gogh, but he lived in Kleve for decades.

From Sunday, August 31, 2025, 2 p.m., the B.C. KoekkoekHaus in Kleve, the long-standing home and workplace of the important landscape painter Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, will be open to visitors again. For two and a half years, the Foundation for Nature Conservation, Heritage and Culture of North Rhine-Westphalia - owner since 1997 - had the museum renovated.

Now the listed palace is ideally positioned for the future. At the heart of the work was the removal of barriers. A new elevator and new plumbing ensure that people with and without disabilities can enjoy the house and the art displayed in it. The alarm and fire protection system and kitchen were also updated. A spacious museum store also took up residence. Newly painted wood paneling and walls make the interior of the house shine.

When the doors of the house reopen for the first time, innovations in the collection will also stand out. In the past two years, the museum team has acquired other important works of art by the landscape painter with the support of the Society of Friends and public and private foundations. In the future, the museum will display the largest canvas ever painted by the master.

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek was born in Middelburg, Zeeland, in 1803. His patrons included Dutch kings, as well as Frederick William IV of Prussia and Russian Tsar Alexander II. In 1834, Koekkoek came to Kleve, where he became the founder of the so-called Kleve Romanticism. With his extraordinary residential palace, he created a residence in the city in 1848, one of the most important artists' houses of the 19th century. The house was one of the few to survive the destruction of Kleve's inner city in World War II with only minor damage. The renovation work now carried out by the NRW Foundation was financed by the T. VON ZASTROW STICHTING. The renovation of the exhibition halls was financed by the Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Affairs, Construction and Digitalization of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Fans of the artist, especially from nearby Holland, have long been eagerly awaiting the reopening, and the museum team is also pleased that life is now returning to the B.C. Koekkoek House. The artist is home again - and visiting him is free for the first week through Sunday, September 7, 2025: after that, admission is free.