Cities & Culture

Folkwang Museum Essen

As one of the most renowned art museums in Germany, the Folkwang Museum shows visitors the crème de la crème of art history. German and French paintings from the 19th century are at the heart of the exhibition here.

Having been founded in 1902 by Karl Ernst Osthaus, the Folkwang Museum in Hagen became Europe's first museum dedicated to contemporary art. The main exhibits in the collection were moved from Hagen to Essen in 1922 and the top-class museum work continued. The Folkwang Museum is now one of the most highly regarded museums dedicated to Classical Modernism around. The museum owes its excellent reputation to its outstanding collections of German and French paintings from the 19th century, Classical Modernism and art from the post-1945 period.

Other highlights include the collection of prints and drawings and the photographic collection, which was originally set up in 1978 and is now considered to be one of the finest in Europe. Around 280 sculptures, some 600 paintings, 12,000 drawings and prints, more than 60,000 photographs, thousands of examples of arts and crafts from around the world and almost 350,000 posters await visitors. Opening times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday: 10 am–6 pm, Thursday and Friday: 10 am–8 pm

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