Museum Ludwig

The museum's origins lie in an Expressionist collection donated by Cologne citizen Josef Haubrich, which entered the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and gradually grew to encompass more twentieth-century works. When collectors Peter and Irene Ludwig gifted the city around 350 works — predominantly Pop Art — Cologne decided under director Gerhard Bott to establish a dedicated museum for twentieth-century art. The plan called for two collections under one roof in a shared new building between the Cathedral and the Rhine. Later donations added Russian avant-garde works and several hundred Picassos, initially as long-term loans. The museum's former premises now house the Museum für Angewandte Kunst.

In 1974 the city launched an ideas competition for the area between the Cathedral and the main railway station. The field was broad: international architects such as James Stirling were specially invited alongside Cologne-based figures including Gottfried Böhm and Oswald Mathias Ungers. From 63 submitted entries, the jury chaired by Rudolf Hillebrecht reached its decision in January 1976. First prize went to the design by Cologne architects Busmann + Haberer — a scheme reinstated into the competition at the urging of Arnold Wolff and awarded unanimously. Construction followed in the years after 1976.