Käthe Kollwitz Museum

The Käthe Kollwitz Museum occupies upper floors of the Neumarkt Passage at Neumarkt 18-24 in central Cologne, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It holds one of the largest collections of work by Käthe Kollwitz, the German printmaker and sculptor whose art reflected poverty, war and grief in the early twentieth century. The museum opened in 1985 and shows the artist's prints, drawings, posters and sculptures in rotating selections, so no two visits are identical. Highlights typically include her lithographs and woodcuts from cycles such as the Weavers and the Peasants' War, her self-portraits, and bronze sculpture. Wall texts explain the context of each work, and the museum also stages temporary exhibitions of related art. The galleries are compact and easy to navigate, and a visit takes one to one and a half hours. The museum is directly connected to Stadtbahn stop Neumarkt, which makes it one of the most convenient cultural stops in the city, and it is about a fifteen-minute walk from the Dom. It is usually open Tuesday to Friday and on weekends, and closed on Mondays, but hours change, so visitors should confirm at kollwitz.de. Tickets are paid. Crowds are light all year, and weekday afternoons are especially quiet. Because the works are prints and drawings, lighting is subdued, and photography rules are set by the museum. The nearby Kolumba and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum make a good cultural day alongside it.