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"Gentlemen! Let's broaden our minds."
―The Joker to his Goons[src]

The Flugelheim Museum was Gotham City's most prestigious art gallery.

History[]

The building is located near City Hall at Gotham Square and the Old Cathedral. Carl Grissom's penthouse tower is built on top of the Flugelheim, likely one of his many front companies.

Joker's Attack[]

Joker chose this location to arrange a meeting with Vicki Vale at the cafe area. When Vale alerted the butler at Wayne Manor that she would be late for her supposed date with Bruce Wayne, suspicion arose. The lead to him surveying activity at the Flugelheim in his Batsuit, resulting in his first encounter with the newly 'reborn' Jack Napier. After sunset, Joker's goons chauffeured him to this location from Axis Chemicals in a purple van, parked outside the entrance. The gang released Smylex gas through the ducting system, killing all the patrons and employees. Prior to the release of the purple gas, Vale was gifted a gas mask to survive the ordeal. At the doorway, Joker called on Lawrence to play a song called "Partyman" on his boombox. The gang began dance over the bodies destroying priceless works of art as they made their way up the staircase to the dining area. The only piece of art in the building that was spared, "Figure with Meat" by Francis Bacon. After making several attempts to goad or perhaps impress Vale, she rebuffed his offers, the breaking point being the reveal of supermodel Alicia Hunt's facial scarring makeover. As tension in the encounter became more heated, Batman made his move by bursting through the skylight above. Grabbing Vale, he fired a zipline to the entrance doorway. A smoke bomb from his utility belt was thrown in the main hall to disorient the gang as they escaped in Batman's armored car.

Portraits[]

  • Figure with Meat
  • Rembrandt

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Appearances[]

Homages[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Flugelheimsketch

Sketch of the exterior by Nigel Phelps.

Designing the Flugelheim[]

"All the buildings, except the cathedral, are dwarfed by the geometric savagery of the Flugelheim Museum whose brutal exterior is more akin to locomotive design than an art gallery like the Guggenheim"
―Anton Furst[src]

Furst was insistent that his draftsman, Nigel Phelps, include the architectural designs of Shin Takamatsu in his conceptual drawings, much like the Monarch Theatre.

Trivia[]

Phelps Flugelheim

Sketch of the interior by Nigel Phelps.

  • The inspiration for the name obviously came from New York's Guggenheim Museum.
  • As Vicki waited in the museum cafeteria, you could see "Fluegelheim Museum" was printed on the menu on her table. But when she escaped with Batman, the sign at the front entrance of the building said "Flugelheim Museum".
  • The handwriting on the note that accompanied the gas mask that was given to Vicki was that of director Tim Burton.
  • The famous portrait of Rembrandt hanging in the museum was vandalized during the Joker's museum rampage by the Tall Joker Goon with paint hand prints. In the next scene, the prints were gone. Then, when the contents of the paint can were splashed on the painting, the prints were back.
  • In Sam Hamm's Batman II script, Selina Kyle worked as a curator at the Flugelheim Museum.
  • The Flugelheim Art Museum appears in LEGO Batman: The Videogame (for the level "The Joker's Masterpiece") as the "Gotham Art Gallery".
  • Nick Derington payed tribute to the Flugelheim in an unknown issue of Batman: Universe.

Gallery[]

Photos[]

Behind the scenes[]

Other[]

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