Opened in 1877, the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg is one of Europe's leading museums for cultural history, arts and crafts, design and photography.
The museum's exhibitions immerse museum guests in antiquity, Japanese tea ceramic art, and the science of photography from around the world. Its collections span from antiquity to the present, covering some 4000 years of design history. Special focuses include Greco-Roman antiquity, Art Nouveau, and a large collection of photographs and posters. China and Japan, Greco-Roman antiquity and the Near East with Islamic art, as well as Europe from the Middle Ages to the present are all present in excellent examples.
Interesting facts about the exhibitions
The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe provides visitors with an in-depth insight into history and presents a variety of famous exhibits. There is also a large porcelain and faïence collection, which includes East Asian tea ceramics, amongst others. Also world famous are the Jugendstil section or the photos and bronze tools, the most comprehensive group of artistic photography and the poster collection. A series of historically furnished interiors conveys a vivid impression of home decoration in the past and present. There are also various works by artists such as Erich Heckel and Erwin Heizmann on show, and also paintings by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Ewald Matar.
The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg also has an area for fashion and textiles. There you can admire astounding grave finds from Egypt and various pieces of clothing from the Middle Ages. The multifaceted special exhibitions dealing with a wide variety of subjects make the offering of the museum complete. Presented in these rooms are regularly changing sculptures, paintings and other works of art. The schedule for special exhibitions can be viewed on the museum's official website.
A collection of historic keyboard instruments, handicrafts and design since 1950 can be viewed in the new Schümann Wing. The "Destille" restaurant is one the most popular museum restaurants.
