Museumsquartier St. Annen

Current exhibitions

About the museum

St. Anne's Convent was built from 1502 as a convent for unmarried daughters of Lübeck merchants and completed around 1515. Just a few years later the Reformation ended convent life; the complex then served as a poorhouse and orphanage and, until 1908, also as a prison. A fire in 1843 largely destroyed the convent church, whose remains stood as a ruin for a long time.

The St. Annen-Museum opened in the restored convent buildings in 1915. It shows Lübeck's medieval art from the 13th to the early 16th century, including the most important collection of North German carved altarpieces, with the Passion Altarpiece by Hans Memling. This is complemented by a sequence of staged rooms tracing domestic life in Lübeck townhouses from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, and by the Danzig Paraments Treasure, held on permanent loan.

In 2003 the Kunsthalle St. Annen was added on the foundations of the convent church – a much-awarded new building by architects Konermann and Siegmund, financed by the Possehl-Stiftung. It presents art from 1945 onward, with a focus on Art Informel, abstraction, and Scandinavian postwar art, as well as international changing exhibitions. Together, the museum and the Kunsthalle form the Museumsquartier St. Annen, which is part of the Lübecker Museen of the Kulturstiftung Hansestadt Lübeck.

Highlights

• Passion Altarpiece by Hans Memling (1491)
• Largest collection of North German carved altarpieces, with 28 retables
• 22 staged rooms on Lübeck domestic culture
• Danzig Paraments Treasure with late medieval vestments
• Kunsthalle St. Annen on the walls of the convent church
• Convent gardens Puppenhof and Kreuzhof

Permanent exhibitions

• Kunst des Mittelalters – Altarpieces, panel paintings, and sculptures from Lübeck and the surrounding region in the historic cloister, with Memling's Passion Altarpiece as the centerpiece.
• Leben in Lübeck – Staged period and theme rooms show how Lübeck's bourgeois families lived from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

Founded

1915

Operated by

Die Lübecker Museen – Kulturstiftung Hansestadt Lübeck

Director

Noura Dirani

Admission & discounts

Since April 1, 2026, admission is via the Lübeck Day Pass (€14), valid on the booked day for all Lübecker Museen; no single ticket for the museum quarter is listed. Free admission for children and young people up to 18, pupils, students, trainees, FSJ volunteers, holders of the LübeckCard and the Ehrenamtskarte (volunteer card), people with severe disabilities with a disability rating (GdB) of 50 or more plus a companion, and members of ICOM, the Deutscher Museumsbund, and the Museumsverband SH/HH.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: not available
• Sign language tours: not available
• Easy-to-read materials: not available
• Audio description: no information

Elevators and small ramps to all exhibition levels; side entrance via a bell marked with a wheelchair symbol; accessible restroom on the first floor of the Kunsthalle; one loaner wheelchair and folding stools. Lockers in the basement without elevator access. No guidance systems, Braille texts, or hearing loops; advance notice recommended.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Playground / play area

Family room "St. Annen Family" (Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00) with drawing, origami, toys, and books, also a quiet place for nursing. Free children's booklet at the ticket desk; changing family activities of the Lübecker Museen on Sundays. No strollers available on loan.

Getting there & parking

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

Amenities & dining

• Lockers

Events & venue rental

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

Plan your visit