Image: Kunsthalle Bremen
Kunsthalle Bremen will open what it calls the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to the dachshund in art, bringing together around 120 works under the title 'Der Dackel. Eine Ikone geht Gassi'. The show is scheduled for 31 October 2026 to 28 March 2027 at Kunsthalle Bremen in Bremen, and traces the dog’s path from traditional hunting animal to urban companion and contemporary trend figure.
According to the museum, the exhibition treats the dachshund as more than a decorative motif. It presents the breed as helper, family member and expression of a worldview, while following its place in art across media and periods. The display will include painting, drawing, photography, video, installation and performance, alongside material connected to popular culture, book illustration, decoration and toy design. The museum also says the exhibition will attempt to take the dachshund’s own perspective.
The scope of the project draws on both historical and contemporary art. Kunsthalle Bremen says the selection will include works by figures from the western canon as well as artists working today. Names listed on the exhibition page include Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Max Liebermann, Otto Dix, Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard, Rosemarie Trockel, Paloma Varga Weisz and Ylla, among others. The museum’s newsletter material also refers to “high-calibre historical and current works” that follow the dog “for the first time” in this way.
The exhibition page highlights several recurring associations that have made the dachshund an enduring subject for artists. It notes the dog’s presence as a biedermeier domestic accessory, a wobbly dashboard dog and, in a more playful register, a reference to the Olympic mascot Waldi. It also points to the dachshund’s visibility in international culture under the names Sausage Dog and Wiener Dog. The museum frames the breed’s appeal through its distinctive body shape, its low-slung viewpoint and its reputation for stubbornness and idleness, qualities it presents as part of the dog’s cultural image.
Among the specific works named by the museum are David Hockney’s 'Dog Painting 46' from 1995, Andy Warhol’s 'Cats and Dogs (Maurice)' from 1976, Max Liebermann’s 'Schlafender Dackel' from 1915, Otto Dix’s 'Dackel' from 1920 and David Douglas Duncan’s photograph 'Picasso zeigt seinem Dackel Lump einen ihm gewidmeten Keramikteller, Villa La Californie, Cannes, 19. April 1957'. The exhibition material also cites contemporary and recent works by artists including Gabriela Jolowicz, Thorsten Brinkmann and Elina Brotherus, as well as collaborative performances by Krõõt Juurak and Alex Bailey.
Kunsthalle Bremen is also building a program around the show for dog owners and visitors. The exhibition page states that dachshunds and small dogs up to 30 centimetres at the shoulder will be allowed in the museum on Thursdays from 12 to 18 and Saturdays from 12 to 16 during the exhibition period, subject to advance online ticketing and time slots. The museum says only three of the eight rooms in the special exhibition can be visited with a dog, and that a waiting and resting area called the 'Dackel-Lounge' will be available on those days.
The museum has already used the dachshund theme in programming outside the exhibition. A blog post from 19 June 2026 described a 'Dackel-Treff' on the green areas around the museum, where around 80 dachshunds and their owners met ahead of World Dachshund Day. The same post said the exhibition would begin on 31 October 2026 and invited visitors to book tickets in advance.
