Die Neue Sammlung

Die Neue Sammlung in Munich's Kunstareal (art district) is considered the world's first design museum, and with around 120,000 objects it holds the largest design collection in the world. Its history is closely intertwined with the founding of the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907, from which a modern collection of exemplary design emerged. The museum was officially established in 1925 as a state museum of the Free State of Bavaria, and it has carried the name Die Neue Sammlung since 1929. After decades housed in the Bavarian National Museum and a period of subordination during the Nazi era, the museum regained its full independence after World War II.

Today the collection spans more than 20 fields, from industrial and product design to graphic design and modern decorative arts. Special emphasis is placed on design from Japan, South Korea, and the former East Germany, as well as on system design and the history of design from the 19th century to the present. Photography is a collection area of its own, having been recognized as an independent discipline as early as the 1960s. There is also the Danner Foundation's international collection of modern artists' jewelry, which is displayed in a treasure-chamber-like room.

Since the opening of the Pinakothek der Moderne in 2002, the museum has been able to show its holdings in a permanent exhibition for the first time. The presentation follows the architectural structure of the building and offers varied spatial settings, from the monumental entrance area to tall, double-height rooms. In addition to the Pinakothek der Moderne, Die Neue Sammlung also looks after the subject of design at the Neues Museum in Nuremberg and at the International Ceramics Museum in Weiden.