German museum's 'grumpy guide' proves to be a big hit

On a recent evening in Düsseldorf's Kunstpalast museum, a guide paused next to a Renaissance sculpture of a man with a wooden club and challenged his flock of 18 visitors to name the mythical hero depicted.

- Philip Oltermann

"Hercules?" a woman in the front row proposed in a soft voice.

"If you know the answer, why can't you tell us in a way that those at the back can hear you, too?" Joseph Langelinck admonished the visitor, before challenging her to name the 12 labours in chronological order.

A non-answer elicited an eye roll and a tut. "Oh god, I feel like I'm back at school," sighed the woman, 62-year-old Corinna Schröder.

The museum advertises Langelinck's tours, which cost €7 (£6.20), as "grumpy" and "highly unpleasant", though that may be an understatement. Over the course of a 70-minute walk, the ponytailed art historian points fingers into faces, tells people off for checking their phones or sitting down, and berates them for their general ignorance, all while stomping through the palatial corridors of the Kunstpalast at breakneck speed.

Despite the rudeness, or perhaps because of it, the twice-monthly "Grumpy Guide" tour has been a surprise hit, with each one since the launch in May sold out. Anyone looking to book a spot will now have to wait until next year.

"I never insult visitors directly, based on their personality or their appearance, but I insult them as a group," said Carl Brandi, 33, the performance artist who conceived of and performs as the aggressive Langelinck. "My contempt is directed at an inferred ignorance that may not even exist. But I try to make them feel as ignorant as possible."