Museum Ludwig

Museum Ludwig stands at Heinrich-Böll-Platz in Cologne's Altstadt-Nord, directly beside the cathedral and a two-minute walk from Köln Hauptbahnhof. Opened in 1986 in North Rhine-Westphalia's largest city, the museum grew from the donations of the collectors Peter and Irene Ludwig and is devoted to art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The building, with its distinctive saw-tooth roofs, shares a complex with the Kölner Philharmonie and sits above the Rhine promenade. Inside, visitors move through bright, high galleries that mix large canvases, sculpture, installation and photography. The collection is best known for Pop Art, with one of the largest holdings of the movement outside the United States, including works by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg. A substantial Picasso collection, Russian avant-garde works, German Expressionism and a major photography collection round out the permanent display. Temporary exhibitions occupy part of the floor space, so the route can change from visit to visit. Most visitors spend two to three hours, and the pace suits a slow loop through one or two floors rather than a rush through everything. The museum is calmest on weekday afternoons; weekends and rainy days bring the heaviest crowds, especially when a headline exhibition is running. Photographers will find the best views of the cathedral and the Hohenzollern Bridge from the plaza outside and the Rhine terraces just beyond the building, while the interior light suits the large Pop Art canvases. Hours run Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00AM to 6:00PM, with the museum closed on Mondays, and ticket fares should be confirmed at museenkoeln.de before visiting. A café and museum shop are on site, and the location makes the museum easy to combine with the cathedral and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum next door.