Museum Schnütgen

The Museum Schnütgen in Cologne's Altstadt-Süd is one of the most important institutions for Christian art and medieval studies in Europe. Founded on the private collection of cathedral canon Alexander Schnütgen, donated in 1906, it now houses more than 13,000 objects, most of them created in the Rhineland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The collection spans a wide range of sacred art, including Romanesque and Gothic sculptures in stone and wood, ivory carvings, treasury art in precious metals, and an extensive collection of liturgical vestments and textiles. Added to this are medieval stained-glass windows, of which the museum holds one of the richest collections in the world. The works come not only from the Rhineland but also from Byzantium, the Netherlands, France, and other European regions.

The artworks are displayed in a unique setting: the Romanesque church of St. Cecilia's Basilica, which has served as a museum building since 1956 while continuing to function as a church with regular services. Since 2010, the exhibition space has been significantly expanded by a new building in the Kulturquartier am Neumarkt, so that storage holdings such as large glass windows and textiles can now be shown properly as well. Visitors experience the exhibits in a thematically structured presentation that runs from the crypt with its medieval manuscripts, through the choir with the Golden Panel from St. Ursula, to the "Treasury" in the former sacristy.

Special highlights of the collection include the torso of the Crucifix from St. George, dating from the Salian period, the Aachen Madonna, and the Harrach Diptych, an ivory work from the time of Charlemagne. The so-called Ursula busts, a typical export product of medieval Cologne, also have a place here. The museum sees itself as a living place of encounter with history, enhanced by changing special exhibitions, concerts of medieval music, and modern educational offerings such as interactive graphic novels. It is regarded as a center of scholarship that, through its research and the preservation of cultural heritage, makes a significant contribution to European cultural history.