Pinakotheken

Pinakotheken & Kunstareal München (Art Gallery Quarter)

The Munich Kunstareal, otherwise known in English as the Art Gallery Quarter or simply Area of Art, is a zone within the suburb of Maxvorstadt known throughout Germany & Europe as being one of the most significant areas for art collections in the world. Included within the Kunstareal are 18 museums and 40 galleries and cultural associations.

The Munich Kunstareal found its original beginnings with the opening of the nearby Ludwig maximilian University in 1826 and the Glyptothek in 1830, although throughout the past 200 years the Kunstareal has continued to grow and today collectively exhibits art history spanning the last 5000 years. Even though the period of time presented to visitors at the Kunstareal is expansive, the resources required to explore the area are quite the opposite- with a handy bicycle or even by foot, visitors to Munich can quite happily navigate the area and visit their choice museums and galleries according to their interests.

Just a few of the highlights in the Munich Kunstareal include:

Alte Pinakothek: The “old” art collection is Munich’s leading art museum for the display of the old European masters and is itself one of the.oldest galleries in the world and at the time of its construction the largest.
Neue Pinakothek: The “new” art collection is one of the most important museums of 19th century art in the world. Highlights include works by Francisco de Goya, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt and more.
Pinakothek der Moderne: Striking in not only its unique architecture, Munich’s “modern” art collection is one of the world’s largest museums for modern & contemporary art. The PdM unifies four major bodies of modern art in their permanent collections, plus rotating collections in peripheral wings.
NS-Dokumentationszentrum: The National Socialism Documentation Center is Munich’s museum dedicated to the rise of Nazism and the consequences of its reign. The museum itself is built on the exact location of the Brown House, the demmolished Nazi party headquarters.