The Hallen für Neue Kunst was one of the most serious contemporary art spaces in Europe for nearly three decades, housed in the vast floor plates of a former textile factory. The collection focused on work from 1965 onwards and included major pieces by Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Imi Knoebel, and Richard Long — artists who rarely sold single works but whose room-scale installations required exactly the kind of industrial space the Hallen provided. It closed in 2014 when the foundation could no longer sustain operations.
The building continues to host events and temporary exhibitions, and the Hallen's legacy is still felt in how Schaffhausen positions itself culturally. The foundation maintains the collection and pieces are occasionally shown in other contexts. For anyone interested in post-Minimal and Conceptual art, the Hallen's archive and the conversations it generated remain a reference point in the field.