Albertinum

The Albertinum stands at Tzschirnerplatz 2 at the eastern end of the Brühl Terrace in Dresden's Altstadt, in Saxony, Germany. The building was originally an arsenal, converted in the 1880s into a museum, and it was reopened in 2010 after a major renovation that added a modern glass-roofed hall to the historic structure. It now houses two of the State Art Collections of Dresden: the Galerie Neue Meister, with art from the early 19th century to the present, and the Skulpturensammlung, which holds sculpture from antiquity to modern times. The painting galleries show Romantic works by Caspar David Friedrich, Impressionist and Expressionist paintings including pieces by Monet, Degas, Munch and members of the Brücke group, and works by Gerhard Richter, who has a long association with Dresden. The sculpture collection includes classical and Hellenistic pieces and Rodin and Giacometti. Visitors should plan two to three hours. The museum is organised so that visitors move through the building chronologically, with the contemporary galleries occupying the upper levels and a calm sculpture hall below. There is a cafe and a shop. The best moments for a visit are weekday mornings, when the galleries are quiet, whereas weekends and rainy afternoons bring larger crowds. The building is closed on Mondays. From the terrace outside, the Albertinum offers a good vantage for photographs of the Elbe, and the museum itself sits only a few minutes from the Frauenkirche, the Kunstakademie and the Brühl Terrace stairs. The combination makes it a natural end point for a walk along the promenade, and the audio guide is useful for those wanting more detail on Friedrich and Richter.