Kunstwerk Carlshütte

Creative work thrives better in a creative environment. Art is therefore an integral part of ACO’s corporate culture.

In 1999, Hans-Julius Ahlmann, the managing partner of the ACO Group, and an artist friend breathed life into the NordArt art exhibition, which has now grown into the largest exhibition of contemporary art in northern Europe – and this year features the work of over 250 selected artists from around the world. With its historic buildings, the colossal foundry halls, and the large sculpture park extending to over 80,000 m², the umbrella project “Kunstwerk Carlshütte” at its headquarters in Rendsburg/Büdelsdorf, has evolved into a public venue for exhibitions, concerts, readings, theatre and film performances.

An exciting interaction between contemporary art and youthful music began when the young musicians of the International Orchestra Academy of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival moved to the ACO Thormannhalle. In 2011, the ACO Group won the German Cultural Sponsorship Prize for its “Kunstwerk Carlshütte”. And NordArt was picked out as a “Selected Location” in 2008 and 2012 as part of the German “Land of Ideas Initiative”.