The association of "Friends of the Prinzhorn Collection" is a non-profit association for the promotion of the Heidelberg collection Prinzhorn. The "Friends of the Prinzhorn Collection" e.V. have supported the Heidelberg Collection Prinzhorn since 1995, a collection of art from a psychiatric context that is unique in the world.

The association of friends was founded in 1995 on the initiative of students of the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and has since been supported by well-known personalities from the arts and the public.

The founding committee consisted of Prof. Dr. med. Jean Christophe Ammann (†), Prof. Georg Baselitz, Dr. med. Eduard Beaucamp, Prof. dr. Johann Feilacher, Prof. dr. Peter Gorsen (†), Peter Härtling (†), Prof. dr. Hartmut Kraft, Johann Kresnik, Prim. Leo Navratil (†), Prof. Arnulf Rainer, Dr. med. Maria Rave-Schwank and Prof. Gerhard Richter.

The association gave the impulse for the realization of the museum collection Prinzhorn in the year 2001. The museum collection Prinzhorn is an institution of the university clinic Heidelberg. Since its opening, the museum has been able to realize a large number of international exhibitions, in part with extensive exhibition catalogs presenting new research.

The Prinzhorn Collection is one of the most unusual, significant and stimulating art collections in the world. It includes works from psychiatric context of different epochs. These are works from various artistic disciplines that fascinate with emotional power, diverse techniques, inventiveness and thematic breadth, often touching with a special kind of authenticity.

The art historian and physician Hans Prinzhorn (1886-1933) gathered around 5,000 works by patients from psychiatric institutions throughout Europe in Heidelberg after the First World War, thereby building up a collection that has received international attention to this day. Since 1980, around 21,000 works have been added. In order to support and accompany this unique work in a special way, the association of the "Friends of the Prinzhorn Collection" was founded.