Gemäldegalerie - painting gallery for medieval European masterpieces
The Gemäldegalerie - from the outside rather unimpressive - bears one of the most important collections of European paintings which are presented on an expanse of 7,000 sq.m. of architecturally best designed exhibition space. However, the Gemäldegalerie is not very widely known compared to other museums in Berlin what makes it to a real insiders´ tip. Here, you still can examine some of the worldwide most famous masterpieces without being stressed by crowds of other visitors.
official website of the Gemäldegalerie
factsheet (SMB) of the Gemäldegalerie incl. sitemap, opening hours etc.
The collection
A complete tour of the 72 rooms covers almost two kilometres. Two of the major sections are formed by Italian painting from the 13th to 16th century and Netherlandish painting of the 15th and 16th century.
Old German painting of the Late Gothic and Renaissance eras is represented by such great masters as Konrad Witz, Albrecht Dürer, Baldung Grien, Cranach and Holbein.
The octagonal Rembrandt room enjoys a key position at the heart of the museum. The sixteen works by this artist form one of the largest and highest quality collections of Rembrandt paintings. They are flanked by additional gems of Dutch and Flemish painting of the 17th century. Portraits, genre paintings, interiors, landscapes and still-lifes illustrate certain artists' preferences for particular types of themes.
Italian, French, German and English painting of the 18th century is presented in six rooms. This splendid collection of paintings includes works by Canaletto, Watteau, Pesne and Gainsborough.
The main gallery contains one thousand masterpieces. These paintings are complemented by four hundred works in a study gallery on the lower floor.
Visitors also have access to a digital gallery with computerized information in German, English and French. Audio-tours are also available in German and English.
