Pinakothek der Moderne

Four museums in one building. The Pinakothek der Moderne, opened in 2002, houses four independent collections under a single roof designed by architect Stephan Braunfels: modern and contemporary art, graphic arts, architecture, and design. At 12,000 square metres of exhibition space, it's one of the largest museums of modern art in the world, and its central rotunda — a vast, light-flooded circle where all four collections converge — is an architectural experience in itself.

The art collection alone justifies the visit. German Expressionism is a particular strength — major works by Kirchner, Beckmann, Kandinsky, and Klee, many of them from Munich's Blauer Reiter movement, which was founded here in 1911 and changed the course of 20th-century art. The collection moves through Surrealism, Pop Art, and contemporary installation, with pieces by Picasso, Magritte, Warhol, Beuys, and Baselitz arranged in galleries that feel spacious enough to let each work breathe.

The Neue Sammlung — the design collection — is internationally recognised as one of the most important design museums in the world. It holds over 100,000 objects spanning furniture, industrial design, graphic design, and automotive design from the 20th and 21st centuries. Everything from a Bauhaus chair to a vintage Porsche to a 1960s Braun radio is exhibited here, tracing how the things we use every day have been shaped by aesthetic decisions.

The building sits in Munich's Kunstareal — the art quarter — within walking distance of the Alte Pinakothek, the Neue Pinakothek, the Glyptothek, and the Lenbachhaus. This concentration of world-class museums in a single neighbourhood rivals any art district on the planet, and the Pinakothek der Moderne is the contemporary anchor that brings the whole story up to date.