Print workshop in the Bernardbau
The print workshop in the Bernardbau has been a collaboration between the Haus der Stadtgeschichte and the Klingspor Museum since 2020 in cooperation with the International Senefelder Foundation, which is based in Offenbach am Main.
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Latest news
The historic Elisabeth printing press has found a new home in the former citizens' office of the city of Offenbach. Find out more in the video.
You can watch the arrival here (opens in a new tab)
Video: City of Offenbach/Mona Förder
Music: Giulio Cercato/Glorious
The printing workshop
The initiative to set up the printing workshop arose from the importance of the city of Offenbach am Main in the history of the printing industry. It was from here, from 1800, that lithography spread all over the world after the music publisher Johann Anton André brought the inventor of this new printing art, Alois Senefelder, to Offenbach. The musical estate of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, acquired in 1799, was also reproduced lithographically in André's print shop.
Offenbach was also the location of the Gebrüder Klingspor type foundry, which was one of the most important type foundries in Germany and from whose tradition the Klingspor Museum emerged.
Two techniques inextricably linked to the city of Offenbach, lithography and letterpress printing, are thus reflected in the printing workshop in the Bernardbau. The printing workshop is also equipped with two etching presses and a bookbinding line, allowing it to cover a broad technical and artistic spectrum.
Opening hours and contact
The times for individual use following the introductory courses must be agreed with the workshop management.
Costs for individual workshop use: 3 €/h + individual material costs.
Further information:
Dominik Gußmann
druckwerkstattoffenbachde
069 8065 3457 (Tuesday 12.30 - 9 p.m.)
Exhibition "Printed matter - works from the printing workshop in the Bernardbau" 2023 - 2025
2025 marks the fifth anniversary of the opening of the print workshop in the Bernardbau. This is reason enough for the Haus der Stadtgeschichte to show a cross-section of works that have been created there over the last two years. The workshop, which belongs to both the Klingspor Museum and the Haus der Stadtgeschichte, is open every Tuesday from 12:30 to 21:00; this means that you can simply drop by during this time to work on your own prints, whether etching, linocut, lithography or letterpress.
The "Drucksachen" exhibition shows a wide-ranging cross-section of all these graphic techniques.
Opening:
February 26, 6 p.m.
1st floor, House of the City History Offenbach
further information: "Printed matter - works from the printing workshop in the Bernardbau 2023-2025" | Haus der Stadtgeschichte (opens in a new tab)
Introductory workshop courses
The introductory workshop courses are designed to provide comprehensive instruction in the various printmaking techniques and the correct use of the necessary presses and tools. In addition to the artistic introduction, users are taught how to work correctly and safely in the printmaking workshop in the Bernardbau so that they can then use it for their own projects.
Registration for all introductory workshop courses:
Dominik Gußmann
druckwerkstattoffenbachde
069 8065 3457 (Tuesday 12.30 - 9 p.m.)
