The collection 

Osnabrück’s ''Felix Nussbaum collection'' dates back to the year 1970. Its existence is due to the great dedication of Augustes Moses-Nussbaum, Felix Nussbaum’s cousin. She campaigned for the pictures that had remained in Brussels to be located and legally awarded to their rightful owners and for the bequest of more than 100 pictures to come to Osnabrück, the birthplace of Felix Nussbaum.

Thanks to the intensive efforts of the City of Osnabrück, the collection grew to over 180 exhibits in the subsequent years. In 1994, the Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung acquired the ''Felix Nussbaum collection'' and, together with the City of Osnabrück, it attends to the legacy of the artist. The significance and size of the collection prompted the City of Osnabrück to extend the Cultural History Museum by an annex – the Felix Nussbaum Haus.

In 1995, the Osnabrück contest for the realisation of the Felix Nussbaum Haus was won by the American architect Daniel Libeskind, who held his ground against 300 competitors. This was a stroke of luck, as the overwhelming national and international echo confirms. Libeskind has managed to establish an interrelation between the architecture and the tragic combination of Felix Nussbaum’s life and works.