Mittelrhein Museum, Koblenz

It all began with a priest who loved paintings: Joseph Gregor Lang collected over 200 pictures in his small parsonage in Neuendorf and left them to his home town in 1834. They became the Mittelrhein Museum, one of Germany's oldest civic museums, founded around the same time as Cologne's Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and Frankfurt's Städel. Today, in the modern Forum Confluentes on Zentralplatz, it shows more than 2,000 years of art and cultural history from the Middle Rhine.

History: ten moves in 180 years

From 1835 the city displayed the collection, but it had no permanent home for a long time and moved ten times, including to the Electoral Palace and, after the Second World War, to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. Many works were lost in the war because the stored collection there was not guarded. From 1965 to 2013 the museum was in the Old Merchants' Hall on Florinsmarkt, and it reopened in the Forum Confluentes on 20 June 2013, tripling its visitor numbers in the first year.

What to see

• Permanent collection: About 20,000 objects, including over 1,100 paintings, some 8,000 prints and drawings and over 300 sculptures.
• Rhine Romanticism: Landscapes and views of the Middle Rhine, perfect context for the World Heritage valley outside.
• Late Middle Ages: Sacred art such as a St Elizabeth of around 1510.
• Januarius Zick room: A room dedicated to the painter Januarius Zick, one of the regional highlights.
• Modern art: Large groups of works by K. O. Götz and Heijo Hangen.
• Special exhibition: "Markus Matthias Krüger. Weit draußen" until 28 February 2027.

Good to know

The Forum Confluentes also houses the city library and the tourist office. The museum also runs the Mutter-Beethoven-Haus with its own exhibitions.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–18:00, closed Mondays except selected holidays; closed on New Year's Day, Schwerdonnerstag (carnival Thursday) and Good Friday, and from 21 December 2026 to 1 January 2027. Permanent collection €6, concessions €4, family €10; special exhibition €8; combined €12. Children under 12 free. Combined ticket with the Ludwig Museum: €14.

Getting there

Forum Confluentes is on Zentralplatz at the edge of the Old Town, about 15 minutes on foot from the main station.

Tripto tip

Allow one to two hours. Start here, then walk to the Deutsches Eck and take the cable car to the fortress. In Advent one of the Christmas market squares is right outside, but note the museum closes from 21 December 2026.