Prinzhorn Collection (Sammlung Prinzhorn)

The Prinzhorn Collection (Sammlung Prinzhorn) is a museum of art created by people with psychiatric experience, located at Voßstraße 2 in the Bergheim district of Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the former university neurological clinic building. The collection grew from the work of the psychiatrist and art historian Hans Prinzhorn, who in the early 1920s gathered thousands of drawings, paintings, sculptures and written works made by patients in European psychiatric institutions. His 1922 book, Artistry of the Mentally Ill, drew wide attention and influenced artists of the period, including Surrealists and Expressionists. Today the museum holds the collection of more than 20,000 works and mounts changing exhibitions that show selected pieces, often organised around themes or individual artists, along with contemporary perspectives on art and mental health. Visitors typically see works in a series of galleries and can read about the lives and conditions of the people who made them. The museum treats these makers as artists and also addresses the dark history of psychiatric treatment, including the Nazi period, so some content is serious and can be unsettling. A visit takes one to one and a half hours. Free public tours are held on Sundays and on Wednesday evenings, and the museum is open late on Wednesday until 20:00, which makes that evening the most comfortable time to visit. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is modest, with reduced prices and free entry for young children. Crowds are typically light compared to major museums, with weekday visits offering the quietest experience. Photography rules vary by exhibition and works can be protected by copyright, so visitors should check signs and ask staff. The museum is reached by tram 21 or 26 or bus 34 or 35 to the Altes Hallenbad stop, and it is about 15 minutes from the Old Town. The shop and library offer related publications for further reading.