The museums of the City of Cologne

City of museums. Cologne owes this title, in contrast to many other major European cities, not to aristocratic art collectors but above all to the outstanding commitment to art of numerous ordinary citizens. Their collections today form the superb core of various museums, indeed, they were often the reason for founding the museums in the first place.

Cologne’s first generation of museum buildings were almost all destroyed in the Second World War. The new buildings which were subsequently created form a succinct history of museum architecture in the second half of the 20th century. The building designed by O.M.Ungers to house the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum-Fondation Corboud was opened as recently as 2001 and a large museum complex for the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum is still under construction. All the museums have special exhibitions alongside their permanent collections.

The Wallraf-Richartz-Museum – Fondation Corboud is one of the great traditional picture galleries in Germany. Here visitors may admire the most important collection of old Cologne paintings worldwide, art of the Baroque period including major works by Rubens and Rembrandt and, in the 19th century section, paintings from the Romantic period, Realism and Symbolism. In the Corboud collection the museum has in addition an outstanding collection of works of Impressionism and especially Post-Impressionism.

The Museum Ludwig is devoted to modern art from the beginning of the 20th century. The highlight of the museum is the collection of Pop Art built up by Peter and Irene Ludwig – the largest outside the USA! In addition, the Ludwigs have bequeathed a considerable collection on the Russian avantgarde from the period from 1906 to 1930 and a collection of several hundred works by Pablo Picasso. The Expressionists are outstandingly represented in the collection of the Cologne advocate Joseph Haubrich. Under the directorship of Kasper König the museum continues the collect contemporary art systematically.

At the Museum Schnütgen visitors experience art treasures from the early Middle Ages until the end of the Baroque period in the unique ambiance of a medieval church building. They may admire ivory work from the Carolingian period and that of the Saxon emperors, goldsmiths’ work, sculptures in wood and stone from the Romanesque to the Baroque period, glass painting, textiles and ecclesiastical treasure art from the Gothic period to the Rococo.

A visit to the nearby Römisch-Germanisches Museum leads one back into the Roman COLONIA CLAUDIA ARA AGRIPPINENSIUM. Superb exhibits from the classical period include the Roman mosaic with scenes from the world of Dionysos (around 220/230 AD) which is integrated into the architecture of the museum and the reconstructed mausoleum of the Roman legionary Poblicius (around 40 AD). Archeological discoveries from prehistoric times to the early Middle Ages show how people lived in the long history of Cologne. The museum is particularly proud of its worldwide largest collection of Roman glasses and an outstanding collection of Roman and early medieval jewellery.

At the Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Art) the focus is on interiors and style of living. The collection of European applied art from the Middle Ages to the immediate present and the high-quality collection of design since 1900 can be experienced at first hand in rooms designed to be in keeping with the various styles.

No less than two specialist museums in Cologne draw attention to the art and cultures of other peoples. The Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst (Museum of Oriental Art) was founded in 1913 as the first specialist museum of its kind in Germany. Its collection of Buddhist painting and wood sculptures, Japanese screen painting, coloured woodcuts, lacquer work, Chinese religious bronze objects, ceramics, furniture and calligraphy is regarded as one of the most important in Europe. A special attraction of the museum is the Japanese Zen garden which can be seen from the exhibition rooms.

In the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum Cologne has one of the most important museums of ethnology in Germany. As a result of restrictions on space at the present time the permanent exhibition can only include objects of North American Indians and Inuit, art from Thailand, Cambodia, India and Tibet, an ensemble of gamelan instruments from Central Java, artefacts from ancient Egypt and gold and silver work from Indonesia and ancient Peru. A new building will provide considerably more room for the extensive permanent collection and special exhibitions from 2006.

Another important specialist museum in Cologne is the Agfa Photo-Historama im Museum Ludwig. This most important collection covering the cultural history of photography includes not only photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries and photograph albums, folders and publications from the 19th century but also a collection of photographic and reproduction equipment of the entire photographic industry of the 20th century which is unique worldwide.

At the Kölnisches Stadtmuseum the visitor can embark on a tour of the history of the city of Cologne from the late Middle Ages to the present day. From “Eau de Cologne” and the Cologne carnival to topics such as popular religiosity, intellectual life and artisans’ guilds almost all the aspects of urban life are documented with illustrative objects or works of art.

The artothek is housed in a late Gothic burgher’s house from the 15th century. Here you can borrow contemporary works of art, obtain information on the Cologne art scene and visit special exhibitions of Cologne artists and international guest artists.

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