Germany Guide
North Rhine-Westphalia
Museum Ludwig
Address: Bischofsgartenstrasse 1
Opening time: Tues– Sun 10am–6pm, until 10pm first Fri of the month
Price: €9
A very modern contrast to the Roman city's glories is provided by the Museum Ludwig, sandwiched between the Roman museum, Dom and river. Though it has a fascinatingly complex contemporary roofscape, the museum is a self-effacing work of architecture that doesn't try to compete with the glories of the Dom. Inside, a succession of handsome and light-flooded spaces provides a wonderful setting for an exceptional collection of modern art. The museum's particular strong point is Pop Art of the 1960s and 1970s, and you can feast your eyes on works by David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg, admire Claes Oldenburg's Giant Soft Swedish Light Switch or Duane Hanson's lifelike Woman with a Purse, and see Warhol's celebrated works depicting Brillo and Campbell's soup boxes. The museum also has a roomful of works by Max Beckmann, several Expressionist canvases by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and Emil Nolde's stunning Nach Sonnenuntergang of 1915. Steps lead down from the back of the Museum Ludwig to the riverside, where an inconspicuous monument recalls the Nazis' lesbian and gay victims. You can also cross the river here by the footpath along the south side of the Hohenzollern railway bridge.