Kunstareal München

Culture Munich

5,000 years of cultural history. 500 x 500 meters. The real experience³ in the heart of Munich.

Kunstareal München is located right at the heart of Munich and with its museums and colleges is one of Europe’s most important cultural hubs. Across an area of 500 x 500 meters, in the middle of the vibrant Maxvorstadt district, visitors will encounter a unique mélange of art, culture and knowledge.

Over the last 200 years, Kunstareal has grown consistently and now presents cultural history stretching across more than 5,000 years. Located between the sweeping Königsplatz and the marvelous Theresienstrasse, Kunstareal offers an extraordinary diversity of museums with works ranging from the glorious leading dynasties of Ancient Egypt via the Classical world up to the present. A total of 18 museums and exhibition halls, 20 galleries, six renowned international colleges and countless cultural institutions are all in the immediate vicinity, easily accessible by foot.

A cultural tour around Kunstareal takes you wandering among countless architectural and cultural highlights. The famous Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen with Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek, Pinakothek der Moderne (which unites four museums under one roof), and Museum Brandhorst, thrill visitors and the cognoscente with an array of outstanding artworks from the Late Middle Ages to the present. The Glyptothek and Munich’s Akademie der Bildenden Künste as well as the impressive new building of Staatliches Museum für Ägyptische Kunst are likewise part of Kunstareal, as are scholarly institutions such as Paläontologisches Museum, Museum Mineralogia München and the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism, which opened in 2015.

Visitors interested in architecture will love Kunstareal with its glorious historical buildings, plazas and museums as well as outstanding annexes and new builds designed by famous international architects. Contemporary highlights include Museum Brandhorst with its colored frontage and the spectacular Lenbachhaus with its persuasive combination of modern architecture and historical artists’ villa.

Visitors to Munich and locals alike are all invited to discover and enjoy Kunstareal – with its seats of learning and creativity. Be it indoors, outdoors, or below the ground – you can choose from a highly varied and repeatedly new program, encountering the new and rediscovering the old.

Embedded in the vibrant Maxvorstadt district with its trends street cafés and restaurants, superb greenery and historical heritage-listed gardens – visiting Kunstareal Munich makes for an unforgettable experience that is almost addictive. Young and old alike, culture vultures and tourists will want to come back again and again!

To listen to the podcast episode "A walk through the Kunstareal" with Laura Schieferle (Office Manager Kunstareal) and Anika Landsteiner (München Tourismus) click here.