Museum Ludwig

Museum Ludwig is one of Europe’s largest collections of contemporary art, located in the historic center of Cologne. The museum was established in 1976, and its exposition is based on the collections that were gathered for many years by the entrepreneur Peter Ludwig and his wife Irena. According to their wish, all priceless works of modern art passed to the city of Cologne. The Ludwig Museum also received German Expressionist paintings that belonged to Cologne lawyer Josef Haubrich.

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General information

Since 1986, the museum has been housed in a modern building and has an exhibition area of 8000 m², where 8 to 10 major exhibitions take place each year. The spacious halls of the museum exhibit works by world-renowned masters of surrealism, pop art, as well as graphics and works of photography and video art. There are paintings by Salvador Dali, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, works by Jasper Johns, and paintings and sculptures by Pablo Picasso.

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In the Ludwig Museum you can see the world’s largest collection of cameras and historical photographs. Of particular interest are paintings by Russian avant-garde artists Natalia Goncharova, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Mikhail Larionov, Kazimir Malevich, Lyubov Popova, Lazar Lisitsky and Alexander Rodchenko. The Ludwig Museum also owns a huge library of art books.

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Visitors

The doors of the museum are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10.00 to 18.00; every first Thursday of the month: from 10.00 to 22.00. The Ludwig Museum is not open on Mondays. Admission is free for visitors under 18, adult tickets cost €13, discounted tickets cost €8.5, family tickets cost €26, group tickets cost €9 per person.

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How to get there

The Ludwig Museum is located in the city center, on Heinrich Böll Square, next to the Central Station and the famous Cologne Cathedral. The museum knowledge is not difficult to reach on foot from the metro station “Dom/Hauptbahnhof.”