Strangers and Freedom at Fürst Pückler Museum Branitz: Art and Landscape in Cottbus

An Artistic Experience between Oriental Imagery, Landscape Vision, and Present

The special exhibition "Strangers and Freedom: Connecting Worlds. Pückler's Orient in his Landscapes" takes place in the Fürst Pückler Museum Park & Schloss Branitz and combines historical garden art with a contemporary intervention by Mona Höke and Kathrin Karras. The exhibition opens on 14.10.2026 at 10:00 AM and runs until 5:00 PM; the regular admission is 11.00 Euros, reduced 8.00 Euros, children and adolescents up to 18 years have free admission. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/sonderausstellung-fremde-und-freiheit-welten-verbindend-puecklers-orient-in-seinen-landschaften-65/))

Between Painting, Photography, and Spatial Memory

The focus is on the collaborative work of the two Brandenburg artists, whose imagery unfolds in layering, reworking, and a precise interplay of surface and depth. The city of Cottbus describes the collaboration as a weaving, assembling, and continuing drawing that connects painting and photography into a new whole. For the breakfast room of Pückler, large-format works were created, linking fantasies and visions about Pückler's journey to the Orient with the world-connecting thought of his landscapes. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/sonderausstellung-fremde-und-freiheit-welten-verbindend-puecklers-orient-in-seinen-landschaften-64/?utm_source=openai))

Pückler, Cosmopolitan and Landscape Artist

The place itself is part of the narrative: Schloss Branitz was the residence of Hermann von Pückler-Muskau from 1845; the surrounding landscape park is considered an outstanding example of romantic garden art. The facility includes the castle, park, riding school, historical castle garden, and the visitor center with a permanent exhibition on Pückler and Carl Blechen. It is precisely this connection of architecture, nature, and art that makes the visit an aesthetic experience with historical resonance. ([museen-brandenburg.de](https://www.museen-brandenburg.de/museen/nach-themen/schlossmuseen/stiftung-fuerst-pueckler-museum-park-und-schloss-branitz))

An Art Historical Dialogue with the Present

Mona Höke was born in 1971 in Guben, has been working freelance in Cottbus and Berlin since 1998, and is known for her connection of literature, painting, and graphic techniques. Kathrin Karras, also born in Guben in 1967, develops a photographic artistic practice in which memory, inner worlds, and merged temporal levels form an independent visual language. In Branitz, two artists meet at a place that tells its own story of travel, projection, and cultural translation. ([galeriebrandenburg.de](https://galeriebrandenburg.de/mona-hoeke/?utm_source=openai))

Visit, Atmosphere, and Museum Orientation

The Fürst Pückler Museum Park & Schloss Branitz is open from April to October 2026, Wednesday to Monday from 10 AM to 5 PM. The park can be experienced as an extensive landscape architecture, and the paths are mostly barrier-free accessible; at the same time, the foundation refers to information on accessibility. This makes the place suitable for a quiet museum visit as well as for an inspired walk through art and landscape space. ([museen-brandenburg.de](https://www.museen-brandenburg.de/museen/nach-themen/schlossmuseen/stiftung-fuerst-pueckler-museum-park-und-schloss-branitz))

Conclusion

This exhibition combines Oriental fantasies, landscape thinking, and contemporary art into a multifaceted artistic experience in Branitz. Anyone who wants to experience art history not as a rigid retrospective, but as a lively dialogue between the past and the present should visit this special exhibition live. ([cottbus.de](https://cottbus.de/veranstaltungen/sonderausstellung-fremde-und-freiheit-welten-verbindend-puecklers-orient-in-seinen-landschaften-65/))

Official Channels of Fürst Pückler Museum Park & Schloss Branitz:

• Instagram: No official profile found
• Facebook: No official profile found
• YouTube: No official profile found
• Website: https://www.pueckler-museum.de/

Sources:

• City of Cottbus/Chóśebuz - Special Exhibition Strangers and Freedom
• Museum Association Brandenburg - Foundation Fürst-Pückler-Museum Park and Schloss Branitz
• Fürst-Pückler-Museum - Fee and Usage Regulations
• Gallery Brandenburg - Biography of Mona Höke
• Kathrin Karras - Biography
• Kathrin Karras - Current on Strangers and Freedom