Walter Kaesbach was among the most engaged individuals in German cultural life during the 1920s and 1930s. He was an art historian, museum director, academy director and art collector, and also promoted Expressionism and Modernism. In an exciting dialogue, this publication brings together various contributions and hitherto unknown documents, images and rare historical illustrations relating to Walter Kaesbach's cultural-political thinking, ideas that are still relevant today. The focus lies on his work as director of the Kunstakademie from 1924 to 1933, marked by the restructuring of the traditional Düsseldorf Academy and the appointments of Heinrich Campendonk, Paul Klee, Ewald Matare, Oskar Moll and Walter von Wecus, among others.