Museum Brandhorst

about museum brandhorst

The Museum Brandhorst is dedicated to contemporary art. Since its opening in 2009, the museum has established itself as one of the central venues for contemporary art in Germany. Behind the spectacular facade of 36,000 ceramic rods, visitors from all over the world can explore masterpieces of art from the 1960s to the present.

The Museum Brandhorst inspires its audience from near and far not only by the largest holdings of works of Andy Warhol’s in Europe. The focus of the museum on works by Cy Twombly and the impressive display of his works are also unique in the world: the monumental “Lepanto Cycle” is permanently presented in a room that has been especially designed following the ideas of the artist. Pop Art and expressive painting are just a few of the numerous movements that can be found here, along with Arte Povera and Minimal Art.

Find out more on www.museum-brandhorst.de

Directions

You can reach the

Museum Brandhorst
Theresienstraße 35a
80333 München

by

Tram
No 27 to Pinakotheken

Underground (U-Bahn)
U2 to Königsplatz or Theresienstrasse
U3 | U6 to Odeonsplatz or Universität
U4 | U5 to Odeonsplatz

Bus
No 154 to Schellingstraße
No 100 (Museumslinie/ museum line): to Pinakotheken
No 100 (Museumslinie/ museum line): to Maxvorstadt / Sammlung Brandhorst

We recommend the use of public transportation. Parking is not available.

Coach
Two coach parking spaces are available in front of the Neue Pinakothek. Parking is limited to two hours (with parking disc) between 10.00 a.m. and 8.00 p.m.

Take a closer look at our map (PDF, 178 KB) to get a better overview.

THE BRANDHORST COLLECTION

From the 1970s onwards, Udo Brandhorst and his wife Anette (d. 1999) amassed more than 1000 works by seminal artists from the 20th and 21st centuries, primarily paintings, drawings and sculptures  and, more recently, photographs, multimedia works and installations.

To start with, the focus was placed on classical avant-garde artists (Kazimir Malevich, Kurt Schwitters, Pablo Picasso) and post-war European Modernists (Joseph Beuys, Palermo, Sigmar Polke, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz) but, in the course of time, their interest became increasingly drawn to American art – with John Chamberlain, Robert Gober, Dan Flavin, Bruce Nauman, Richard Tuttle, Walter de Maria and others being represented by major works.

With many more than 100 exhibits by Andy Warhol (1928–1987), there is virtually no other European collection that has comparable holdings of works by the best-known of all Pop Art artists. The nucleus of more than 170 works by the American artist Cy Twombly (1928–2011) is unique anywhere in the world. The acquisition of works by Damien Hirst, Mike Kelley and Robert Gober testify to how contemporary art increasingly attracted the collectors’ attention, as do mutimedia artworks by Isaac Julien, Anri Sala, Stan Douglas and David Claerbout.

While the Pinakothek der Moderne enables visitors to gain a general picture of developments in 20th and 21st-century art, the focus in the Museum Brandhorst is on an in-depth examination of the work of individual artists.The Udo and Anette Brandhorst Foundation was set up in 1993. With returns from the Stiftung's capital, the continuous expansion of the collection of modern and contemporary art is possible to an extent that would be unimaginable with public funds today. In conjunction with the Pinakothek der Moderne, a range of possibilities opens up for expanding the concept of a modern and contemporary art collection for Munich. In addition, the Stiftung's articles provide for artistic and research projects.

 In the last ten years, the collection has grown from around 700 works to more than 1,200. Most recently, works by artists such as Amy Sillman, Jutta Koether, Wolfgang Tillmans and Arthur Jafa were added. This has resulted in a corpus that demonstrates clear lines of development from the mid-20th century to the present day.

Find out more on www.museum-brandhorst.de

Architecture

The Museum Brandhorst is situated in the north-eastern corner of the Kunstareal that includes the Alte and Neue Pinakothek museums as well as the Pinakothek der Moderne. With its entrance at the junction of Tuerkenstrasse and Theresienstrasse the Museum Brandhorst forms a connection to the busy Maxvorstadt and lively university districts.

The building was financed with funds from the Free State of Bavaria, the planning and construction were handled by the Staatliches Bauamt München I (Munich State Building Authority I).

The building of Sauerbruch Hutton architects in Berlin is a long, two-storey, rectangular structure abutting a considerably higher, trapezium-shaped section that widens to the north. The precise contours of both parts are linked by a continuous ribbon glazing that culminates in the generous glazed area at the main entrance. Here a corner window running the full height of the building cuts boldly through the structure to the North West, ensuring that the spacious foyer with the museum ticket desk, bookshop and restaurant receive natural light from three sides and enjoy different views.

You can find further information about the architecture, the museum technology, the ecological concept of Museum Brandhorst here.

Book Shop

The Walther König bookshop is a specialist bookshop and publisher for art, photography, architecture, design and aesthetic theory. The Brandhorst Museum offers a large selection of international book titles.

Bookshop Walther König
Daily except Monday 10.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
THU 10.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.
T +49 (0) 89 28702 994
F +49 (0) 89 28729 993

Café

Opening Hours
Daily except MO 10 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
THU 10.00 a.m. - 8.00 p.m.

Kontakt
Aigner, Erb, Lucic GbR
Theresienstraße 35a
80333 München
T +49 (0)1515 1281 3081
E-Mail: Julia.isolde.erb@googlemail.com

Orientation and Barrier-free accesibility

Museum Entrance
Theresienstrasse/ corner of Türkenstrasse

Parking
Two parking spaces for disabled visitors are provided in front of the main entrance of the Museum Brandhorst.

Elevators
There are two passenger elevators. These elevators provide access to all exhibition levels (-1, 0, 1). Another elevator connects the entrance foyer (0) with the cloakroom level (-1).

Wheelchairs
Wheelchairs are available from the information desk on request.

Cloakroom and lockers 
Lockers (deposit required: 1.00 € or 2.00 €) are available on the lower floor.  

Visitors are kindly requested to leave bulky items such as umbrellas and larger prams here. To ensure the safety of the artworks, bags larger than a foolscap sheet of A4 paper must also be left in the cloakroom. 

Restrooms
The Museum Brandhorst provides restrooms for disabled visitors in three locations throughout the building: on the upper level beyond the Lounge gallery, on the lower floor near the cloakroom as well as next to the media suite.

Information
+49 (0)89 23805 2286