Gemäldegalerie

The Gemäldegalerie (meaning “painting gallery” in German) is home to a collection of more than 1,200 works comprising an exemplary survey of European art from the 13th to 18th century. The museum is so large that a full tour covers almost 2 km over 72 rooms of art. The collection, owned by Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums), is particularly strong in German and Italian painting of the 13th to the 16th century and Netherlandish painting of the 15th and 16th century. It also holds one of the largest Rembrandt collections in the world, with 20 works by the artist. Highlights of the collection include Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s “Two Chained Monkeys” (1562), Caravaggio’s “Amor Vincit Omnia” (1602), Vermeer’s “Woman with a Pearl Necklace” (around 1663-64) and Thomas Gainsborough’s “The Marsham Children” (1787). In 2023, the museum celebrated 25 years since the Gemäldegalerie building, designed by Hilmer & Sattler, opened at the Kulturforum. The opening in 1998 reunited the collection after it had been divided during the Cold War.