The opening of Berlin's Museum of Contemporary Art in 1996 provided the National Gallery with another permanent site for exhibiting contemporary art. With an exhibition area of approximately 13,000m˛, the building houses the Christian Flick collection - around 2,000 works of modern art by approximately 150 artists, with the focus on art from the last decade of the 20th century and including some works from the start of the 21st century. There are important pieces by Piet Mondrian, Kurt Schwitters, Bruce Nauman, Sigmar Polke and Nam June Paik. The exhibition primarily features works by European and North American artists, but is not restricted to Western art by geographical location or genre. Closed on Mondays.
» www.smb.spk-berlin.de
The Hypo Foundation for Culture in Munich, most famous for its Kunsthalle (exhibition hall) where regular exhibitions are staged, has been one of Munich's most important cultural institutions since it opened in 1983. Here we can see evidence of the constant appeal of European art from the Renaissance to the Romanticism periods, exhibited in an area of 3,200m˛ spread over two floors. There are one-man exhibitions of works by Gauguin, Picasso, Miró, Magritte, Giacometti and Nolde, to name just a few. Fabergé masterpieces and art from non-European countries are also featured. Closed 24 December.
» www.hypo-kunsthalle.de
At the end of the 1970s, Deutsche Bank was one of the first companies to combine contemporary art with the world of work. Today the collection comprises around 50,000 works of art in 974 locations in 45 countries, with the works on display in corridors, counter areas and offices. Since the new collection of art at the Frankfurt headquarters was revealed to the public in 1986, the twin towers have become a symbol for “art at work”, fulcrum of the largest corporate collection in the world and the bank's global art concept.
» www.deutsche-bank-art.com
The Frieder Burda museum in the spa gardens in Baden-Baden is a real gem. The museum architecture itself, a unique design by New York architect Richard Meier allowing plenty of daylight to enter the building, is just as fascinating as the art collection it houses. Approximately 500 paintings, drawings, sculptures and objects outline the marvels of art history over the last 100 years. The collection concentrates on Classical Modernism and German Expressionism, with works by Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and August Macke. The late work by Pablo Picasso is closely related to German Expressionism. American Abstract Expressionism is also featured with Action Painting by J. Pollock and works with a meditative character by C. Still and M. Rothko. Closed on Mondays and 24 and 31 December. Guided tours are available.
» www.sammlung-frieder-burda.de
The private collection of Charlotte Zander has been on display in Bönnigheim Palace since 1996 and is the largest of its kind in the world. The permanent exhibition is spread over 43 rooms and covers a total area of around 2,000m˛. The extraordinary collection comprises some 4,000 pieces by 400 artists and sculptors with the focus on painters working in the classical French naive style and exhibits by artists such as Bauchant, Bombois, Séraphine, Rousseau and Vivin. In addition to the most important works by international artists in the naive style, there are also pieces in the Art Brut and Outsider Art style by Adolf Wölfli and the Gugging artists. Tattoo designs, votive offerings and portraits from the 19th century complete the collection along with works by Polish and Jamaican sculptors. Closed on Mondays. Guided tours on request.
» www.sammlung-zander.de
The valuable cultural and historical Schwarzkopf collection has been on permanent loan to the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden since 1995. The fascinating collection about the history of beauty care and personal grooming has been assembled over a period of more than four decades. There are more than 2,000 exhibits in the collection, including antique razors and hairpins, bath and hairstyling accessories, wash bowls, dressing tables, powder boxes, flea traps, wig stands and equipment for curling and setting hair. They document the health care, beauty and grooming rituals from different cultural periods, from the ancient world to the Middle Ages, from the Renaissance, baroque and classicism periods to modern times. Closed on Mondays.
» www.dhmd.de
Dr Wolfgang Münchow (1923-1986), an ophthalmologist from Zwickau, donated his research collection on the history of ophthalmology to the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden in 1984. The collection comprises more than 1,000 exhibits from the 17th to the 20th centuries, including historical spectacles, diagnosis and examination equipment, surgical instruments, graphics and paintings and an extensive library on medical history. This collection traces not only the most important developments in the field of ophthalmology, but also the journalistic and cultural dimensions of this history. Closed on Mondays.
» www.dhmd.de
The Georg Schäfer Museum, which opened in Schweinfurt in 1999 and covers an area of 3,600m˛, presents one of the most important and extensive private collections of high-calibre 19th century art by artists from the German-speaking territories. With paintings and works on paper from the early 18th to the early 20th centuries, the collection documents the range of art movements of the time – from late rococo, classicism and romanticism to impressionism and secessionism. One of the oldest pieces in the collection is Januarius Zick's “Peasant Idyll” from 1760. The combination of major individual works with groups of works by important artists and the rediscovery of paintings by lesser-known masters is what makes the collection so impressive. Closed on Mondays, 24-25 and 31 December and Shrove Tuesday.
» www.museumgeorgschaefer.de
Since 1999, the exquisite private collection of the artist and collector Bernd Cassau has been housed in the remarkable Museum of Sacred Art in Paderborn. The collection features exhibits acquired by the artist during his travels and at auctions, and some of his own works created in his gold and silversmith workshop. Monstrances, chalices and crucifixes of centuries gone by are impressive examples of the artistic beauty and diversity of sacred art. Some of the most prized possessions and particular treasures include a Paderborn silver goblet dating back to 1700, a small frankincense vessel from the same period and two beautiful Madonnas (1460). The exhibition spans the period from Gothic to present day. Open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and by arrangement.
» www.paderborn.de
