Rotterdam – An amazing transfer of cultural heritage is taking place from Charlois in Rotterdam South to Middeland in the North. Renowned Rotterdam art figure Hans Walgenbach, founder of the legendary Walgenbach Art & Books, has donated a significant part of his personal art‑book collection to Martijn te Winkel, who will open a new gallery and art‑book store in the former municipal archive on the Robert Fruinstraat.
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Hans Walgenbach Art & Books
Hans Walgenbach, born in August 1945 in Landstuhl, near Kaiserslautern in Rijnland-Palts, is a German-Dutch painter, drawer, writer, and former director of the Historic Museum Rotterdam. His donation of approximately 100.000 euro valued books marks a symbolic passing of the torch within Rotterdam’s independent art scene. Walgenbach, celebrated art-book collection championing local artists, underground movements, and the city’s visual history, sees in Winkel a new custodian capable of carrying that mission forward.
Walgenbach’s legacy includes rare Rotterdam monographs, exhibition catalogues from the 1970s onward, artist books from local and international makers and archival material documenting the city’s post‑war art movements. His collection was a sanctuary for artists, historians, and curious wanderers.
A New Cultural Space in a Historic Building
Martijn te Winkel, born in March 1974 in Rotterdam, is a Dutch a visual artist and photograper is very happy with the donation and with this donation he is able to open a new hybrid gallery‑bookstore inside the former cities archive building at the Robert Fruinstraat in Rotterdam. The archive was built in 1971 on the site of an old schoolyard of the Cathedral of Saint Lawrence and Saint Elizabeth on Mathenesserlaan. The archive has seven floors and a basement of each 400 m2 and after it housed thousands of municipal documents for almost 15 years it will now hold thousands of art books, zines, catalogues, and rare publications for hopefully more years.
TheArtbook.nl : A New Chapter for Rotterdam
Winkel’s initiative arrives at a moment when independent art spaces in Rotterdam are under pressure. The Art Drawing Center just closed due to rising rents and shrinking cultural budgets. The new gallery‑bookstore aims to counter that trend by creating a sustainable, community‑driven model rooted in knowledge, history, and artistic exchange.
His gallery‑bookstore hybrid will function as:
- A public art space for exhibitions and installations
- A curated art‑book shop featuring Rotterdam artists, international titles, and out‑of‑print gems
- A meeting place for artists, students, archivists, and collectors
The opening date will be announced later this year, but preparations inside the former archive are already underway. Shelving, cataloguing, and spatial design are being developed with respect for both the building’s history and Walgenbach’s legacy. Rotterdam gains not just a new cultural venue, but a bridge between generations of art lovers — a place where the city’s creative memory can continue to grow.