In summer 2009 Munich’s already impressive museum quarter was enriched by yet another atrtraction, the excitingly colourful architecture by Sauerbruch Hutton, a large-scale museum that is home of numerous masterpieces of modern and contemporary fine art. Paintings and installations by Cy Twombley, Sigmar Polke, Bruce Nauman and Andy Warhol make this private collection of modern art one of the best and most highly regarded of its kind. The guided tour will also explain at what special point the history of fine art has arrived today. An ideal addition to a visit of the Pinakothek der Moderne right opposite.

There are three world famous galleries for fine art in Munich known under the name “Pinakotheken”. They are the heart of Munich’s museum quarter. One of them, the Old Pinakothek, houses one of the world’s best and largest collections of paintings from the late Middle Ages to the late 18th century. The museum tour will pick out masterpieces, among others, by Dürer, da Vinci, Raphael, Rubens, van Dyck, without neglecting the respective historical backgrounds and stories about the famous paintings. Special attention will be paid to the new view of man around 1500 and the changes of art that resulted from it.

Where the collection of the Old Pinakothek ends in art history, the New Pinakothek continues. Opened 150 years ago by King Ludwig I the collection of the New Pinakothek covers the great variety of 19th century fine art like German Romanticism and Classicism. The charming and humorous works of Carl Spitzweg enjoy great fame in local art history. Like other romantic works they help to understand what makes the German desire and passion of the 19th century painted on canvas so typical. The highlight of our guided tour will be the French Impressionists and works of Vincent van Gogh, Monet, Manet and Degas.

The latest Pinakothek in chronological order is the “Pinakothek der Moderne”, inaugurated in 2002. From the Expressionists to Pop Art and Video Installations: Munich’s third and latest Pinakothek is a museum dedicated to fine art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Outstanding names like Kirchner, Picasso, Warhol, Magritte and Beckmann became a synonym for this collection that is presented in a building of transparent and venturous architecture. The building houses three more museums, e.g. the Mudeum for Modern Industrial Design, and thus has become a cultural centre for modernity.

In the early 19th century King Ludwig’s I enthusiasm for ancient Greek history and culture brought masterpieces of Greek sculptures as well as red-figured and black-figured vases of the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. to Munich. Today two famous museums at Königsplatz present this outstanding collection that counts among the most precious of its kind in Europe. Our guided tour will point out highlights like the Barbarini Faun, the best among the 160 statues presented. Created 2.300 years ago, the Barbarini Faun and its exciting history still catch the viewer’s excitement.

Closed until 2012 due to renovation. Most famous for its collection of early Expressionism, the Museum in the Lenbachaus is a must for everyone who admires the works of Wassily Kandinsky and friends like Alexei Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, Gabriele Münter, Franz Marc or Paul Klee. The group became known under the name of the “Blue Rider” (“Der Blaue Reiter”) and had great influence on the development of abstract painting and on fine art as a whole. Explore Munich’s art scene around 1900 on our guided tour.

One of Germany’s richest collections of jewels, Munich’s Treasury Museum displays gold work from the Middle Ages to the period of Classicism. The best pieces were crafted in the 16th century, when Bavaria’s Dukes ranked among Europe’s most important and influential leaders. Precious works made of ivory, gems or mountain crystal surround the the Bavarian Crown Insignia and the precious statuette of St George the Knight. The Treasury museum is located in the Residence and thus can be included in a guided tour of the main palace.

Nearly 2.000 years of South German arts and crafts are presented in the historical halls of the Bavarian National Museum. Carvings by Tilman Riemenschneider and porcelain figures by Bustelli are but two examples for the impressive variety of the exhibits. The tour will point out the highlights of the treasury and invite you to an exciting journey through art history from from antique ivory carvings to chinaware in Napoleonic style.

Sailing ships, atomic models, windmills, space probes, diesel locomotives, industrial robots, lifeboats, a whole mine – the German Technology Museum is a house of superlatives in technical achievement. Founded over 100 years ago by Oskar von Miller, it is not only one of the first museums worldwide to be entirely dedicated to science and technology, but also one of the most visited and the largest of all. Our guided tour will provide an entertaining overview of this Olymp of knowledge.