A House with a Flag

Years before the establishment of the gallery in Bleiburg, Werner Berg made a sketch of the later gallery premises – the old building located on the Main Square in Bleiburg – on a lawn one night during the Bleiburg fair. Within the three days of the annual fair on the lawn, Werner Berg liked to stay in Bleiburg watching the individuals going home late in the night down the empty streets of a small town and using them for a picture motif which he employed over and over again.

In 1968, the Municipality of Bleiburg established the Werner Berg Gallery on the iniciative of  honey producer Gottfried Stöckl. The building premises were empty and after the neccessary adaptation the artist put a representative selection of his works to their disposal. Two years after the test operation, the gallery had been closed again in order to be renovated fully and ultimately opened in 1972.   In his will, Werner Berg donated his art collection from the Bleiburg Gallery to the public while the Municipality of Bleiburg binded itself to perserve the gallery forever.  Between 1995 and 1997, the premises underwent extensive renovations with additional furnishing of the attic, and the house was thrown open to the public in a completely new light.