When does the exhibition take place?

The event is scheduled for 04.09.2026.

Where can the exhibition be seen?

At the City Museum Amberg at Zeughausstraße 18, 92224 Amberg.

What is the admission fee?

The regular admission fee for the City Museum Amberg is 6 euros.

Are there guided tours for the exhibition?

Yes, the City Museum Amberg regularly offers public guided tours and educational formats.

Is the museum barrier-free?

Parts of the building are accessible, and there are inclusive offers and an elevator to the special exhibition rooms.

What themes are at the center?

The focus is on Michael Mathias Prechtl's drawings, illustrations, visual worlds, and the art-historical engagement with history and memory.

Heads. Times. Stories

Name: Heads. Times. Stories. Michael Mathias Prechtl on his 100th Birthday
Start: 2026-09-04T06:09:00+02:00
End: 2026-09-04T06:09:00+02:00
Location: Stadtmuseum Amberg

Heads, Times, Stories: Michael Mathias Prechtl at the City Museum Amberg

The City Museum Amberg dedicates a special exhibition of great cultural-historical significance to the painter, draftsman, and illustrator Michael Mathias Prechtl, born in the Upper Palatinate, on his 100th birthday. The exhibition presents a body of work that asserts an independent position within German art of the 20th century, oscillating between precise observation, witty condensation, and pictorial irony.

An artistic experience between drawing, painting, and monument painting

Prechtl was born in Amberg in 1926 and developed a visual language that operates with both ease and erudition. His drawings, lithographs, watercolors, and paintings combine satirical sharpness with historical reflection. At the center are heads, gestures, and narratives that are not only portrayed but interrogated. This is where the tension of this exhibition lies: Art becomes an instrument of cultural remembrance.

The illustrator's view of history and the present

Prechtl gained widespread attention as an illustrator and graphic designer, among others for renowned publications such as DER SPIEGEL and the NEW YORK TIMES. His works revolve around historical figures, myths, power images, and bourgeois observation of the world. Particularly influential is his engagement with Albrecht Dürer, which has repeatedly been described in art historical reception as the key to his work. The City Museum Amberg thus not only showcases a local anniversary but also a chapter of German visual culture.

Amberg as a place of remembrance and mediation

The AMBERG.MUSEUM combines the City Museum, City Gallery, and Glass Cathedral and sees itself as a place of vibrant cultural education. Regular guided tours are planned for the Prechtl exhibition; additionally, the museum offers educational formats, barrier-free access, as well as services in plain language and sign language. This creates an exhibition atmosphere that closely connects the viewing of works with mediation.

Originals, loans, and a look into the estate

The special exhibition gathers works from the estate as well as loans that prominently highlight Prechtl's artistic rank. His sheets are not mere illustrations but intellectual spaces: densely composed, pointed, sometimes humorous, often of great pictorial discipline. Those who linger here discover an aesthetic experience between line, surface, and historical significance.

Conclusion: This exhibition opens a deep, knowledgeable access to Michael Mathias Prechtl and to an art that inextricably connects thinking and seeing. Those who want to experience art history not just by reading but in the original should definitely visit this exhibition live at the City Museum Amberg.