Leipzig’s art scene is in mourning: Brigitte Tübke-Schellenberger has died

The Leipzig-based lawyer, barrister and custodian of Werner Tübke’s artistic estate died on 31 August 2026 in Leipzig at the age of 95. She was born on 17 August 1931 in Leipzig as Brigitte Schmuntzsch. She had two sons from her first marriage to Martin Schellenberger.

In 1976, she married the painter and graphic artist Werner Tübke; this was his third marriage. From 1977 onwards, the couple lived in a villa at Springerstraße 5 in Leipzig-Gohlis, which served as both their home and studio. Brigitte Tübke-Schellenberger initially continued to practise her profession. She worked as a lawyer until 1982, after which she concentrated on the organisational management of her husband’s work.

Following his death in May 2004, the preservation, cataloguing and public presentation of his work became one of her most important tasks. She made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Tübke Foundation in Leipzig in May 2006. She donated 19 paintings, 67 drawings, 214 prints and 16 watercolours to the foundation’s collection.

The foundation’s premises were opened in December 2006. From its foundation until June 2016, Tübke-Schellenberger chaired the Foundation’s Board; on 25 June 2016, she handed over this role to the painter Michael Triegel. She was also involved in the scholarly documentation of his work. Together with Gerd Lindner, she published ‘Werner Tübke. The Pictorial Work. Catalogue of Paintings 1976 to 1999’ in 1999 and also contributed to the compilation of the catalogue raisonné of his prints.

She uncovered another important part of his legacy in 2007, when she found previously unknown sketches and diaries in her late husband’s desk. In 2010, she donated 12 of these books to the University Library of Leipzig; further materials were added later.

Following Werner Tübke’s death, she left the villa on Springerstraße and moved into a flat near St Thomas’s Church in Leipzig. Right up to her old age, her name remained closely associated with the preservation of the Tübke estate and with the work of the Leipzig Foundation.

Brigitte Tübke-Schellenberger died two weeks after her 95th birthday in her home town of Leipzig, as first reported by the *Leipziger Volkszeitung*.