[Photo from hamburg-travel.com]

Hamburger Kunsthalle is one of the largest and most important art museums in Germany. Its superb permanent collection takes visitors on a journey through seven centuries of art history, from the medieval altars of Master Bertram through to the stars of the contemporary art scene such as Gerhard Richter and Neo Rauch.

After members of the Hamburg art association committed themselves to supporting an art museum in the Hanseatic City in 1846, the collections were opened to the public as early as 1850. The construction of the Hamburg Kunsthalle was financed through donations from Hamburg's citizens and was opened in 1869. The various collections continue to be expanded even today, thanks to foundations such as the "Campeschen Historischen Kunststiftung" and the museum friends "Freunde der Kunsthalle e. V.". The Kunsthalle Hamburg is not only committed to contemporary art, but also focuses on the conservation of older art.

The Kunsthalle Hamburg consists of three distinctive buildings: the ornamentally decorated brick structure from 1869, the neo-classical annex of light-coloured limestone from 1919, and the white cube of the "Galerie der Gegenwart" (gallery of the present) by the architect Oswald Mathias Ungers that opened in 1997. With its central location between the central station and the Alster, the Kunsthalle also represents an architectural highlight.

One of the loveliest views of the city is offered by the bistro of the Galerie der Gegenwart which caters for the culinary enjoyment of visitors together with Café Liebermann in the historic part of the museum.