Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum Berlin

Current exhibitions

About the museum

Berlin's Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum goes back to the painter, art dealer and gallerist Hans Pels-Leusden, who exhibited the artist's work from the 1960s onward and built up his own Kollwitz collection in the process. After private initiatives for a Kollwitz museum in divided Berlin had long come to nothing, he opened the museum at the end of May 1986 in a villa on Fasanenstraße in Charlottenburg – at about the same time as the Kollwitz museum in Cologne.

For more than three decades the museum, together with the Literaturhaus and the Grisebach auction house, formed a small cultural hub near the Kurfürstendamm. Since 1988, special exhibitions on art of Kollwitz's era and on related themes in contemporary art have complemented the permanent presentation. The museum is still run by a private association, which has received institutional funding from the State of Berlin since 2014 and support from a Kollwitz foundation since 2020.

Because the roughly 600 square meters on Fasanenstraße were too cramped and not accessible, the museum moved in the fall of 2022 to the Theaterbau at Schloss Charlottenburg, where it reopened on September 24, 2022. The collection has since been presented chronologically in eight galleries and comprises drawings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts and sculptures from all phases of her career – from early self-portraits and the great print cycles to the late works on war, death and motherhood.

Highlights

• Chronological collection presentation "Aber Kunst ist es doch" (But It Is Art After All) in eight galleries
• Self-portraits from every phase of the artist's life
• Print cycles such as "Ein Weberaufstand" (A Weavers' Revolt) and the "Tod" (Death) series
• Drawing "Gedenkblatt für Karl Liebknecht" (In Memoriam Karl Liebknecht, 1919)
• Bronze sculptures such as "Liebespaar" (Lovers) and "Mutter mit zwei Kindern" (Mother with Two Children)
• Tactile models of three major works and an open print workshop on KollwitzSonntag

Permanent exhibitions

• Käthe Kollwitz – „Aber Kunst ist es doch“ – The collection presentation on the first floor of the Theaterbau leads chronologically through the artist's life and work – from early drawings to the late lithographs and sculptures.

Founded

1986

Operated by

Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum und grafische Sammlung Hans Pels-Leusden e.V.

Director

Dr. Josephine Gabler

Admission & discounts

Tickets are currently only available at the museum ticket desk in the Theaterbau, as online ticketing is being switched over. Free admission also applies to holders of the Berechtigungsnachweis (formerly berlinpass), members of the Verband Berliner Stadtführer (Berlin tour guides' association), members of the press and ICOM members.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Ramp to the main entrance; the six steps up to the ticket desk and exhibition level, as well as the restroom in the basement, can be reached by elevator. Paths in the palace park are partly uneven. Portable seating available free of charge at the ticket desk. Tactile models of three major works on the upper floor; exhibition talks in German Sign Language. Nearest accessible station: S Westend.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Holiday courses for children aged 8 to 12, a bookable print workshop for ages 8 and up, and an open print workshop for all generations on KollwitzSonntag.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop

Museum shop with postcards, posters and catalogs.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this – please ask the museum directly.

Plan your visit