Mu­seum Lud­wig in Co­logne

The Co­logne mu­seum is en­tirely ded­ic­ated to mod­ern art. The Pop Art col­lec­tion and the Ger­man Ex­pres­sion­ism col­lec­tion in par­tic­u­lar are out­stand­ing. The col­lect­or Josef Haubrich es­tab­lished the basis for the cur­rent es­tab­lish­ment with his dona­tion to the city of Co­logne.

Museum Ludwig in Cologne is one of the most important art museum in Germany. Over 8,000 square metres, it shows artworks from classical Modernism to contemporary art. In particular, its collection of American Pop Art, which is the biggest and most important collection of its kind outside of the USA, is outstanding. Among others, it includes works by Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Indiana.

Museum Ludwig, which lies right between Cologne Cathedral and the Rhine, is also home to one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of works by the Russian avant-garde of the 1920s and has an important collection of works by Pablo Picasso. Since 2008, the institute has also owned an extensive collection of editions by Sigmar Polke.

The German Expressionism holding is influenced above all by the donation of politician and lawyer Josef Haubrich, who bequeathed his collection of paintings to the city of Cologne in 1964. With his collected works, he established the basis for the current museum. The foundations, however, were laid by the collectors Irene Monheim and Peter Ludwig in 1976 with a further 350 modern artworks.

The museum is constantly acquiring the works of famous artists; the new acquisitions are usually no more than a few months old. In addition to permanent exhibitions, major shows on important art historical topics and artists are shown. The holdings on the history of photography are also worth a look with around 70,000 exhibits. Artistic images, albums, portfolios and materials on the cultural history of the medium await.

Anyone who still has knowledge gaps to close in other cultural fields can visit Museum Kolumba, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum or the Museum of Applied Arts. All of these institutions are within walking distance.