Germany's museums of contemporary art

Despite its name, this museum is not situated in Hamburg, but in Berlin, in the former terminus of the Hamburg-Berlin Railway. The building was renovated in the 1990s to house Erich Marx's private collection of contemporary art, which includes works by Joseph Beuys, Anselm Kiefer and Andy Warhol. Focusing on art since 1960, the museum is run by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.

Berlin actually already has two museums of modern art. Mies van der Rohe designed this architectural icon that has been undergoing renovation since 2015. Nevertheless, the building is too small for the National Museum's inventory of contemporary art. A planned extension would be linked to the main building via underground walkways.

Impressionism, Expressionism, Surrealism — in 1902 the Folkwang Museum was a pioneer of modern art. The Nazis removed about 1,400 works they saw as "degenerate art," some of which were repurchased after the war. The collection includes works by Jackson Pollock, Günther Uecker and Georg Baselitz. The new museum, designed by David Chipperfield and financed by the Krupp Foundation, opened in 2010.

The glass cube located right on Schlossplatz square has been an integral part of Stuttgart's city center since 2005. During the day, the façade reflects its surroundings and at night, the illuminated interior highlight the limestone walls. In addition to contemporary art, the museum houses an important Otto Dix collection.

This museum houses four collections — modern art, works on paper, architecture and design — under one roof. The modern art section offers a wide array of works and styles, including by 20th-century German artist groups Die Brücke and Der Blauer Reiter. The collection has about 20,000 works that have been steadily established since 1945 thanks to donations, acquisitions and foundations.

The gallery is part of the Hamburger Kunsthalle that presents collections from the Middle Ages onwards in three buildings. What makes it special is that artists helped shape the interior of the five-story cube. Jenny Holzer's "Ceiling Snake" shines over a staircase, and Bogomir Ecker's stalactite machine spans all floors.

The collection that started out with the purchase of two August Macke paintings in 1949 has grown to about 9,000 works. The focus has always been on a manageable number of outstanding artists whose works are presented in spacious rooms — thanks to a new building in 1992, designed by Axel Schultes. At the time, the flowing spatial concept set new standards in museum construction.

The purchase of 88 Paul Klee works in 1961 marked the start of the collection, which has been added to ever since. The museum soon threatened to burst at the seams, so a new building, the K20, opened in 1986. That space became too small as well, so a second addition came in 2002: the K21, in the former North Rhine-Westphalia parliamentary building.

Cologne is home to the third-largest Picasso exhibition and the largest pop art collection in Europe. Many of the latter works were gifted by collectors Irene and Peter Ludwig. Initially, the building also housed a classic picture gallery, but since 2001, the approximately 8,000 square meters are reserved for contemporary art.

The Schirn does not have its own collection but instead presents changing exhibitions of international renown, for instance thematic shows on political art, the wilderness or artist self-portraits. The word "Schirn" is Old High German and means "open sales stand." The museum was built in Frankfurt's old town, an area that was destroyed in WWII.

The museum goes back to chocolate manufacturer and patron of the arts Bernhard Sprengel. He collected works of German Expressionism and French Modernism, and donated his considerable collection to his hometown of Hannover. The museum opened in 1979 and has been expanding ever since. In 2015, Alice Aycock's sculpture, "Another Twister," was installed in front of the building, welcoming visitors.