Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig

The Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig (Museum der bildenden Künste, or MdbK) is one of Germany's major art museums, housed in a striking glass cube in the middle of the old town. Its collection runs from late medieval art and Old Masters such as Cranach and Frans Hals to Caspar David Friedrich, Max Klinger and the painters of the Leipzig School. Best of all, the collection is free to visit, making it one of the easiest things to do in Leipzig on any day of the week except Monday.

Where it is and how to get there

The museum is at Katharinenstrasse 10, a few minutes' walk north of the Markt, Leipzig's main square, and about ten minutes on foot from Leipzig Hauptbahnhof. Leipzig is roughly an hour and a quarter from Berlin by ICE train and is an easy day trip from Dresden as well. Leipzig/Halle Airport has a direct rail link to the central station, and the Deutschlandticket covers local S-Bahn, tram and bus travel. If you come by car, use one of the parking garages on the ring road.

A museum reborn

Leipzig's citizens founded an art association in 1837, and the municipal museum opened in 1848. Its purpose-built home on Augustusplatz was destroyed by bombing in 1943, and the collection spent decades in temporary quarters. The current building opened on December 4, 2004, on the former Sachsenplatz, designed by architects Hufnagel, Pütz and Rafaelian. Since 2017, new corner buildings frame the glass cube like a courtyard.

What to see

The holdings include around 3,500 paintings, 1,000 sculptures and 60,000 works on paper.

• Old Masters: Dutch and German painting, including Frans Hals and Lucas Cranach the Elder.
• Romanticism and the 19th century: Caspar David Friedrich, the Düsseldorf School and French painting.
• Max Klinger's Beethoven: a monumental, multicolored sculpture and one of the museum's signature works.
• The Leipzig School: East German painters Bernhard Heisig, Werner Tübke and Wolfgang Mattheuer, plus Neo Rauch and other contemporary artists.
• Current exhibitions (as of October 2026): "Four Walls Full of Art" on Jewish collector families in Leipzig (through January 31, 2027) and Sylvie Fleury's "First Spaceship on Venus" (through September 2027).

Opening hours and tickets

As of October 2026, the museum is open Tuesday and Thursday to Sunday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and Wednesday noon–8 p.m. It is closed on Mondays (except public holidays) and on December 24 and 31.

Admission to the collection is free. A combined ticket for the special exhibitions costs €12 (reduced €6), visitors under 18 enter free, and on the first Wednesday of the month the exhibitions cost just €3. Public tours are free and need no booking; the museum occasionally offers them in English.

The building is fully accessible, with ramps, automatic doors, an elevator to all galleries and free loaner wheelchairs. Bags larger than A5 must go in a locker, and there is no luggage storage, so use the lockers at the central station. The museum café, mokaawe, is open daily except Monday.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes. Even with only an hour or two, the free collection is excellent value, and the architecture alone is worth a look. Combine it with nearby sights: the Old Town Hall on the Markt, St. Nicholas Church, Auerbachs Keller in the Mädler Passage and the Bach Museum by St. Thomas Church.