Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud

About the museum

The foundation was laid by the Cologne canon Ferdinand Franz Wallraf, the last rector of the old university, who on his death in 1824 bequeathed his vast collection to the city: altarpieces, paintings, drawings, books and coins that he had saved from dispersal during secularization. From 1827, part of it was shown provisionally as the “Wallrafianum” in the archbishops' former Cologne court.

Only the endowment of the merchant Johann Heinrich Richartz made a dedicated building possible: in 1861, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum opened as the first museum building in the Rhineland. In 1937, it lost numerous modern works in the Nazi “Entartete Kunst” (Degenerate Art) campaign; in 1943, bombs destroyed the building, but the holdings that had been moved elsewhere survived the war. A new building by Rudolf Schwarz and Josef Bernard followed in 1957, and in 1986 the joint complex with the Museum Ludwig between the cathedral and the Rhine.

Since 2001, the museum has had its own building by Oswald Mathias Ungers next to the city hall. In the same year, Swiss collector Gérard J. Corboud gave the museum his Impressionist collection on permanent loan; since then it has carried the additional name “Fondation Corboud”. The holdings range from the world's most extensive collection of medieval Cologne painting through Baroque and the 19th century to Neo-Impressionism, complemented by a Prints and Drawings Collection of around 75,000 sheets.

On August 3, 2026, the museum closed for a general renovation of the Ungers building expected to take about two years. At the same time, an extension by the firm Christ & Gantenbein is being built next door for the Impressionism collection; both buildings are scheduled to open together at the end of 2028.

Highlights

• Stefan Lochner: “Madonna of the Rose Bower” (Muttergottes in der Rosenlaube)
• The world's most extensive collection of medieval Cologne panel painting, including the cycle of the Legend of St. Ursula
• Peter Paul Rubens: “Juno and Argus”
• Late self-portrait by Rembrandt
• Fondation Corboud: the largest collection of Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painting in Germany
• Prints and Drawings Collection with around 75,000 sheets, including works by Leonardo, Dürer and Rodin

Founded

1824

Operated by

Stadt Köln

Director

Marcus Dekiert

Visitors per year

approx. 170,000

Admission & discounts

The Wallraf is closed until the end of 2028 for a general refurbishment.

Accessibility

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

Not relevant during the closure. Before the closure, according to museen.koeln, the building was wheelchair-accessible: step-free entrance on Obenmarspforten, two elevators to all exhibition levels, accessible restroom, loan wheelchairs, induction loops and a tactile orientation map. Information for the renovated and expanded museum is still pending.

Kids & families

The Wallraf is closed until the end of 2028 for a general refurbishment.

Getting there & parking

Amenities & dining

There are no visitor services in the building during the closure; information on the shop and services after the reopening is still pending.

Events & venue rental

The Wallraf is closed until the end of 2028 for a general refurbishment.