About
Berlinische Galerie is Berlin's Landesmuseum for modern art, photography and architecture, distinguished by a collecting mandate that sets it apart from every other exhibition house in the German capital, focusing exclusively on visual art, graphic work, photography and architecture created in or connected to Berlin from 1870 to the present. The museum began not as a state initiative but as a citizens' collection, founded in 1975 by an association of engaged, art interested Berliners, before becoming a museum of the State of Berlin in 1994. Since 12 November of that year, it has operated as a Stiftung des offentlichen Rechts, a public law foundation, with a formal collecting and research mandate covering Berlin's art and cultural history.
Since 2004, the Berlinische Galerie has been housed in Kreuzberg within a former glass storage depot, a striking piece of industrial architecture built in the 1960s close to the Berlin Wall, where the West Berlin Senate once stockpiled window glass against the possibility of a Cold War blockade. Architect Jorg Fricke transformed this eleven metre high industrial hall into a generous, modern museum of some four thousand square metres, preserving the building's original clarity and simplicity while adding a crossing staircase at its centre that leads to a newly inserted upper level, home to the permanent collection, while the ground floor's six metre high halls are reserved for large scale installations and temporary exhibitions. Few walls are permanently fixed, allowing the museum to reconfigure its spaces anew for each presentation, allowing the museum to reconfigure its spaces for each presentation. The building's forecourt, designed by architects Kuhn Malvezzi and marked by the steel sculpture Dreiheit by artist couple Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky-Denninghoff, has become a recognisable meeting point for visitors and the surrounding neighbourhood alike.
The Berlinische Galerie's contemporary importance rests on its role as guardian of Berlin's own artistic history across every medium and style, from Dada Berlin and Neue Sachlichkeit to Eastern European avant garde movements and contemporary practice, alongside dedicated artist archives. Its curatorial trajectory embraces both historical depth and responsiveness to current developments, presenting Berlin's art history in ever new and sometimes unexpected combinations while tracing the city's international artistic connections, resulting in a programme characterised by historical depth, experimentation and dialogue across artistic disciplines.
Organisationally, the museum's core pillars are its permanent collection and its changing exhibition programme, its research activities into Berlin art and cultural history, and its extensive education and accessibility offerings, including tactile guidance systems, audio tours and regular tours interpreted in German Sign Language. As a public law foundation of the State of Berlin, the Berlinische Galerie receives its core funding from the city, while remaining explicitly committed to its founding identity as a citizens' collection, open and inspiring for every visitor regardless of background.
