Karl-Heinz Krieg (1934 - 2012)

Karl-Heinz Krieg was born on 5 September 1934 in Pforzheim. After serving a commercial apprenticeship and training to become a deacon in the Evangelical Church and teacher of religious education, Karl-Heinz Krieg’s path in life led him to Ghana in 1960. He worked in Ghana for the Basel Mission as a hospital administrator until 1962. From 1963, Krieg travelled the region for over a year visiting Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali and Nigeria in the course of his travels. It was eventually Karl-Heinz Krieg’s interest in West African art and handcraft that led him to become a collector of and dealer in West African artefacts and objects. During his time at the Linden Museum in Stuttgart between 1964 and1965, Krieg learnt how to document artefacts systematically. Commissioned by the Linden Museum, Krieg assembled a collection of Dogon and Senufo artefacts. Karl-Heinz Krieg remained engaged as an art dealer, curator and author up until his death and continued to undertake annual expeditions to West Africa. Alongside facilitating the acquisition of artefacts for museums and individual collectors, these visits also led to a comprehensive documentation of the region's art and handcraft.

The Ethnological Collection at the Museum Natur und Mensch houses over four hundred artefacts collected by Karl-Heinz Krieg. Over one hundred of these objects were acquired from the State of Baden-Württemberg and feature as permanent loans in the Ethnological Collection.