Cities & Culture

Museum of East Asian Art Cologne

Unique collection: Cologne has the oldest museum of East Asian art in all of Europe and the only one in NRW. Opened in 1913, the museum displays exceptional works of art from China, Korea and Japan.

The core of the collection goes back to the collection of Adolf Fischer and his wife Frieda, with which they wanted to convey a comprehensive picture of all genres and epochs of East Asian art. To this day, this collection is considered one of the most important in Europe: bronze art, Buddhist paintings and wood sculptures, Japanese screen paintings, woodblock prints and lacquer art, porcelain and ceramics from the Bronze Age to the 19th century. Other important focal points are Chinese sacred bronzes, early ceramics, Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.

However, it is not only the art that is a highlight, but also the museum building, which opened in 1977. It was designed by Kunio Maekawa, a student of Le Corbusier. With its austere, clearly structured cubes, it follows old Japanese traditions and at the same time develops a new, modern formal language. At the heart of the complex is the landscape garden designed by Japanese sculptor Masayuki Nagare in the tradition of Japanese meditation gardens.

Opening hours: Tuesday through Sunday: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., every first Thursday of the month: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

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