When can I see the exhibition Between Forms | Helga Gebert?

The special exhibition will be on display from June 12, 2026, to April 11, 2027, at the GRIMMWELT Kassel.

Where is the exhibition taking place?

The exhibition takes place at GRIMMWELT Kassel, Weinbergstraße 21, 34117 Kassel.

What can visitors expect in the exhibition?

Over 200 mostly unpublished works, biographical traces, interactive stations, as well as illustrations for Grimms' fairy tales, 1001 Nights, and Helga Gebert's own narratives.

Are there offerings for children?

Yes, the exhibition includes a riddle trail for children and playful impulses that encourage careful observation and further storytelling.

Who was Helga Gebert?

Helga Gebert was a German painter, illustrator, author, and translator. Since the 1970s, she has influenced the renewal of German-speaking children's and youth literature.

Are there guided tours of the exhibition?

Guided tours of the exhibition are offered in the program of GRIMMWELT Kassel. The museum publishes dates and participation conditions on its event page.

Helga Gebert's Fantastic Image Worlds: Seeing Fairytales Anew and Telling Stories Differently

Name: Between Forms | Helga Gebert
Start: 2026-10-14T10:00:00+02:00
End: 2027-04-11T18:00:00+02:00
Location: GRIMMWELT Kassel

Between Forms: Helga Gebert's Fairytale Image Worlds in Kassel

The special exhibition BETWEEN FORMS | HELGA GEBERT. Telling in Image and Word at the GRIMMWELT Kassel invites you to discover illustrations as independent forms of storytelling. More than 200 works, including some unpublished pieces, make visible how Helga Gebert continues, reinterprets, and transforms stories into poetic image spaces.

Illustration as a Lively Narrative Space

The exhibition centers around the question of how images change stories. Gebert's illustrations for the Children’s and Household Tales of the Brothers Grimm, tales from 1001 Nights, and her own children's books open a sensory access to familiar and international fairy tale materials. Pen drawings, watercolors, and intricate paintings combine precise observation with fantastic imagination.

The exhibition understands stories as cultural communication across times and places of origin. In the examination of works, characters, colors, shapes, and surprising details enter into a dialogue with the literary originals. This creates an aesthetic experience that conveys both art historical connections and the immediate joy of the image.

A Formative Voice in Children's and Youth Book Art

Helga Gebert was born in 1935 in Freiburg im Breisgau and worked as a painter, illustrator, author, and translator. Her intensive engagement with fairy tales led her to themes from different language and cultural circles. For her books, she developed her own text versions, translated from several languages, and created image worlds between precise nature observation, humorous fantasy, and narrative freedom.

Since the 1970s, Gebert, together with the publishing house Beltz & Gelberg, has shaped the renewal of German-speaking children's and youth literature. Her art transcends the boundaries between painting, book illustration, and literary design. The curation of the exhibition makes this versatility understandable through biographical traces, working methods, and selected groups of works.

Over 200 Works and Interactive Discoveries

The presentation combines original illustrations with biographical insights and interactive stations. Comparative views of works from the Grimm collection of the city of Kassel and works by Maurice Sendak, Helga Ruppert-Tribian, and Markus Lefrançois deepen the engagement with fairy tale motifs, scenes, and characters. This makes it visible how differently artists translate traditional narrative materials into new aesthetic forms.

Children also find their own accesses: a riddle trail and playful impulses encourage close observation, further thought, and independent storytelling. The exhibition thus combines cultural education, literature mediation, and visual art into a cross-generational art experience.

Conclusion: Seeing Fairytales, Rethinking Stories

Visitors can expect an atmospheric exhibition full of fantastic characters, fine lines, colorful image spaces, and surprising narrative twists. BETWEEN FORMS invites you to rediscover Helga Gebert's significant work and to experience the power of illustration firsthand. A visit to the GRIMMWELT Kassel enriches cultural perception and offers both children and adults a lasting aesthetic experience.