Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg

Current exhibitions

About the museum

The driving force behind the museum was the lawyer Justus Brinckmann, who in the 1870s – including at the 1873 Vienna World's Fair – purposefully acquired objects for a Hamburg museum of decorative arts. The museum was founded in 1874, and Brinckmann directed it until 1915. The four-wing building with two inner courtyards on Steintorplatz was built from 1874 to 1876 to plans by the city's director of building, Carl Johann Christian Zimmermann, and initially also housed a trade school. The museum moved into its new premises in 1877.

With purchases at the 1900 Paris World's Fair, Brinckmann laid the foundation for an internationally renowned Art Nouveau collection. His successor Max Sauerlandt opened the museum to modern art from 1919 but was forced out of office by the Nazis in 1933. After World War II, the museum resumed collecting and continued to expand its holdings.

In 1987 the Mirror Room from Hamburg's Palais Budge was reconstructed in the museum, and an extension was added in 1996. Since 1999 the museum has been a foundation under public law, and in 2020 the “Freiraum” opened as a freely accessible meeting place for projects and encounters.

Today the MK&G sees itself as a design museum with around 600,000 objects spanning several millennia. The collections range from antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Southwest Asia/North Africa region to East Asia, musical instruments and fashion, as well as photography, graphic art and contemporary design. Every year the museum shows numerous temporary exhibitions.

Highlights

• Mirror Room from Hamburg's Palais Budge
• Art Nouveau collection with acquisitions from the 1900 Paris World's Fair
• Collection of historical keyboard instruments
• East Asia presentations “Inspiration Japan” and “Inspiration China” with a tea room
• Major photography collection and collection of graphic art and posters
• Hands-on area “Kinderreich” for children aged 5 to 12

Permanent exhibitions

• Inspiration Japan – Newly conceived presentation of the East Asia collection with a focus on Japan – from bamboo baskets and sword fittings to clothing and the tea room; light-sensitive works are rotated regularly.
• Inspiration China – Highlights from the China collection of more than 3,000 objects, such as ritual bronzes, imperial porcelain, carved lacquer, painting and calligraphy.
• Inspiration SWANA – New presentation of the former Islamic Art collection as the SWANA collection (Southwest Asia and North Africa), in which historical and contemporary works enter into dialogue.

Founded

1874

Operated by

Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Stiftung öffentlichen Rechts

Director

Prof. Tulga Beyerle

Visitors per year

approx. 213,000 (2023)

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Free admission every first Thursday of the month from 18:00

The day ticket is valid for the entire museum, including all special exhibitions. Thursdays from 18:00, €8 for everyone; ticket for the last hour before closing €5. Annual pass via membership in the friends' association Justus Brinckmann Gesellschaft (€80, reduced from €30). Free for groups including journalists and refugees. Online tickets are generally non-refundable.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description

Main entrance on Brockesstraße with 15 steps, next to it an elevator directly into the foyer; two elevators serve all exhibition rooms. Wheelchair-accessible toilets with baby changing tables in the basement and on the 1st and 2nd floors. One free accessible parking space on Steintorplatz directly in front of the museum. Loaner wheelchairs on request, folding stools in the foyer. Induction loops for hearing aids and cochlear implants. Tactile guidance system in the foyer (ticket desk, elevator, toilets, Freiraum). Tours in German Sign Language through the Museumsdienst Hamburg, audio tours for blind and visually impaired people with “Bei Anruf Kultur”, information in Easy Language (Leichte Sprache). Assistance animals welcome.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Stroller-friendly
• Baby changing facilities
• Playground / play area
• Kids’ birthday parties

Hubertus Wald Kinderreich for children aged 5 and up, especially from age 8, open on weekends, public holidays and during Hamburg school holidays 10:00–18:00 (only with adult supervision). Free rally booklets for a puzzle trail on the ground floor at the ticket desk, play corner in the freely accessible “Freiraum”. Children's birthday parties through the Museumsdienst Hamburg. Strollers are allowed and can be used everywhere via elevator, but there are only a few parking spots for them – the museum advises coming without one if possible. Baby changing facilities in most restrooms. Children aged 8 and up may enter the museum unaccompanied.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

• Restaurant
• Museum shop
• Coat check
• Lockers

Restaurant “Destille” on the 1st floor (Tue–Sun 11:00–17:30, buffet until 16:00) with salad buffet, hot dishes and cake. Walther König bookshop in the museum. Cloakroom and lockers free of charge.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Corporate events

Up to 144 guests.

Mirror Room (130 m² plus stage, up to 144 people in row seating, with Steinway grand piano and terrace) for receptions, concerts, readings and evening events; vestibule (200 m² plus gallery) for lectures, receptions and conferences; Freiraum for workshops and seminars (only outside opening hours); conference room for meetings and hybrid meetings. Reduced rental rates for foundations, associations and NGOs. Capacity of the vestibule not specified. Contact: eventmanagement@mkg-hamburg.de.

Plan your visit