The free Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK) is a top fine arts gallery with one of Germany’s largest collections of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculptures from the Middle Ages to the present.
The Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK) / Museum of Fine Arts is one of the largest museums of visual arts in Germany. The permanent exhibition includes early Dutch and German paintings, the Renaissance, and the 19th century with a special emphasis on Romanticism. Temporary exhibitions of modern art of the 20th and 21st centuries often include works by local artists such as Max Klinger and Max Beckmann, as well as art from the former German Democratic Republic. Admission to the permanent exhibition of mostly Old Masters is free while tickets are needed to see the modern art and temporary exhibitions.
Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK)
The Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK) has a vast collection of visual or fine arts that covers over 500 years of art history. The museum owns over 4600 paintings, 1800 sculptures and medallions, over 70,000 graphic works on paper, and 5,000 photographs.
The history of the museum makes the collection very special too. In contrast to for example the vast paintings gallery (Gemäldegalerie) in Berlin and the SKD in Dresden, this collection has no royal roots and was initiated by wealthy Leipzig citizens in the 1830s.
The Old Masters painting collection thus reflects the taste of the Leipzig civilian elite rather than the tastes of the nobility. The Leipzig elite preferred Dutch rather than 17th-century Flemish painters who were in vogue at royal courts. The museum further has a large collection of early German and Dutch painters from the 15th and 16th centuries, including 18 works by Lucas Cranach. Paintings by Italian, Spanish, and French artists are more limited, although the museum recently received an impressive donation of 19th-century French paintings.
The 19th century is generally well represented with around 750 artworks of which many are by German artists ranging from Classicism and Romanticism to Impressionism and Symbolism.
The 20th-century art collection is patchy but with certain artists and periods very well covered. Wars, politics, and the division of Germany all contributed to works being lost or damaged or impossible to acquire in the first place. However, the collection includes important works by two Leipzig art giants: Max Klinger and Max Beckmann. The East German (DDR) collection has around 500 works while the West German or international section is not surprisingly small and often loaned works.
Although the museum owns over 800 sculptures — in the former East Germany the only larger collections are in Berlin and Dresden — only a few are displayed in the museum. Similarly, graphics and drawings are mostly displayed only in special exhibitions and for short periods.
Visiting the Fine Arts Museum in Leipzig
The Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK) is a purpose-built building that opened in 2004. This modern museum is one of the largest galleries in Germany.
The standard visitor’s facilities are with the entrance on the ground floor. The basement and the top (3rd) floor are used for temporary, 20th-century, and contemporary art exhibitions. Admission is usually charged for these areas.
The early 20th-century collection includes important works by two Leipzig art giants. Many works by Max Klinger (including the large Beethoven sculpture in the ground floor foyer) and Max Beckmann are usually on display.
Old Masters and 19th-Century Art
The free permanent collection is displayed on the first and second floor. On the first floor is the large Kunst der Romantik (Art of the Romanticism) 19th-century collection with an emphasis on German artists. Caspar David Friedrich (The Stages of Life / Die Lebensstufen, Graveyard under Snow / Friedhof im Schnee, Seascape in the Moonlight / Seestück bei Mondschein) is currently amongst the most popular artists in Germany. Other 19th or early 20th-century artists include Franz von Lenbach (Bismarck), Max Liebermann, Max Slevogt, Franz von Stuck, Lovis Corinth, as well as Scandinavian artists such as Johan Christian Dahl and the sculptor Bertold Thorvaldsen.
On the second floor, the main themes are the old masters in collections of Dutch painters, the Renaissance, and the Baroque and Rococo periods. Highlights include Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach, The Seven Ages of a Woman (Die sieben Lebensalter des Weibes) by Hans Baldung, Company Playing Music (Musizierende Gesellschaft im Neuen Amsterdamer Stadthaus) and Learning to Walk (Unterricht im Laufen) by Pieter de Hooch, The Merry Reveler (Peeckelhaering (Der lustige Zecher)) by Frans Hals, and a Rembrandt portrait.
Visitor Information: Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig
Opening Hours and Tickets
Opening hours for the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK) are as follows:
- 10:00 to 18:00 — Tuesday, Thursday to Sunday
- 12:00 to 20:00 — Wednesday
- Closed — Mondays, December 24 & 31
Admission to the permanent collection is currently free — this covers mostly 15th to 19th-century art on the first and second upper floors.
Tickets for temporary exhibitions, 20th-century and contemporary art, on the top floor (and sometimes in the basement too) depend on the exhibitions and range from €3 to €10.
On the first Wednesday of each month, the temporary exhibitions may be seen for €3.
Admission to all exhibitions is always free for children under 18 years old.
Transportation to the Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig
The Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig (MdbK), Kathareinenstraße 10, 04109 Leipzig, is in a huge modern, glass-clad building that fills an entire street block in the center of the city.
Bus stop Reichstrasße on bus 89 (Hauptbahnhof to amongst others the Thomaskirche) is the closest public transportation option while Markt is the nearest S-Bahn station. However, when not on the direct line, it will almost always be quicker to simply walk from the Hauptbahnhof or major transportation hubs such as Goethestraße and Augustusplatz.
Leipzig has a compact but interesting old town center worth exploring and several interesting museums and monuments. Hotel prices in Leipzig are often very cheap making it worth spending an extra night here before heading to more expensive destinations such as Berlin, Hamburg, or Frankfurt.