Käthe Kollwitz Museum
Home to the world's largest Käthe Kollwitz collection, this Cologne museum brings together her drawings, prints, and all 15 known bronze sculptures.
since 1985
The museum is operated by the Kreissparkasse Köln, which maintains close ties to the Kollwitz family.
At a Glance
- Type
- Art museum featuring drawings, prints, and sculpture
- Location
- Neumarkt, Altstadt-Süd neighbourhood, city centre
- Operator
- Kreissparkasse Köln
- Collection
- around 300 drawings, over 500 prints, and all surviving posters
- Exhibition space
- 1,000 m² on the upper floor of a shopping arcade
- Sculpture
- all 15 museally accessible bronze sculptures
The museum was founded in 1985 – and its founding director was none other than Jutta Bohnke-Kollwitz, the granddaughter of Käthe Kollwitz herself.
Things to do here
- Explore the world's largest Kollwitz collection
- View drawings, prints and posters
- Admire the bronze sculptures up close
- Discover the famous cycles such as "War" and "Peasants' War"
- Afterwards stroll through the shopping arcade at Neumarkt
Age comparison
Age compared with other places in Cologne.
History
The collection dates back to 1976, when two lithographs were acquired at a Kollwitz exhibition; in 1983 a group of 60 drawings from family ownership was added. The museum was founded on 22 April 1985 — the 40th anniversary of the artist's death — to mark the first public presentation of the collection. Since 1989 it has occupied the upper floor of the Neumarkt shopping arcade designed by Hans Schilling, with Jutta Bohnke-Kollwitz, a granddaughter of the artist, serving as its founding director.
The Collection
The prints span all major series, including the etching cycles A Weavers' Revolt and Peasants' War, the woodcut series War and Proletariat, and the late lithograph series Death. A centrepiece is the final lithograph The Seed for the Planting Must Not Be Ground (1941), the artist's testament against war and soldiers' deaths. The drawings range from early contributions to the magazine Simplicissimus through coloured pastels to late works, and all posters Kollwitz created in the 1920s for peace and social justice are preserved in full.
The Sculptural Work in Cologne
Nearly all of the bronze sculptures are on display in rare early casts, accompanied by an extensive collection of preparatory drawings for the memorial Grieving Parents (1914–1932) at the soldiers' cemetery in Vladslo. A cast of the Grieving Parents stands in the ruins of Alt St. Alban church, made in 1956 in the workshop of Ewald Mataré by his students Erwin Heerich and Joseph Beuys. Together with the Levy Grave Relief (1938) in the Jewish cemetery in Cologne-Bocklemünd, Kollwitz's complete sculptural output can be traced across the city.
Operator and Mission
The Kreissparkasse Köln's commitment connects to the artist's core themes — poverty, hunger, and suffering — and to the historical roots of the savings bank tradition. Under an agreement with the Kollwitz heirs, the collection is continuously expanded, documented, made accessible to researchers, and shown to the public. Since 1994, admission fees have been charged, with proceeds going as a solidarity contribution to the Käthe-Kollwitz-Haus Moritzburg.
Reopening
After three years of renovation, the museum reopened on 11 October 2025 with the special exhibition KOLLWITZ SEEN ANEW, marking both the 80th anniversary of Käthe Kollwitz's death and the 40th anniversary of the museum's founding.
Timeline
- 1976Kreissparkasse Köln acquires the first two Kollwitz lithographs
- 1983Purchase of a collection of 60 drawings from family estate
- 1985Museum founded; opened on 22 April, the 40th anniversary of the artist's death
- 1989Relocation to the Neumarkt Passage (Hans Schilling), 1,000 m² exhibition space
- 1990Hannelore Fischer takes over as museum director (until March 2022)
- 1994Introduction of admission fees as solidarity contribution for Kollwitz-Haus Moritzburg
- 2022Katharina Koselleck becomes new museum director (succeeding Fischer)
- 2025Reopening on 11 October after three years of renovation with exhibition KOLLWITZ NEU SEHEN
Map
Blue dots: other places nearby — tap to explore.
Address
Neumarkt 18-24
50667 Köln
Hours
Di: 11:00–18:00
Mi: 11:00–18:00
Do: 11:00–18:00
Fr: 11:00–18:00
Sa: 11:00–18:00
So: 11:00–18:00
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Sources & links
- Official website
- Official Instagram (@kollwitzmuseum)
- Wikidata (retrieved 2026-06-24)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-06-24, rev 265633389)
- Official website (retrieved 2026-06-24)
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-06-26
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