Museum Kunstpalast

Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf is the city's big art museum, set in the brick Ehrenhof complex on the banks of the Rhine, a short walk north of the Old Town. Under one roof it brings together Flemish Baroque painting including Rubens, the 19th-century Düsseldorf School, modern and contemporary art, photography, design and, in the Glasmuseum Hentrich, one of Europe's largest glass collections. Add a lively program of blockbuster exhibitions, and it ranks among the top things to do in Düsseldorf.

A short history

The name recalls the first "art palace" built here in 1902. The current buildings were designed by architect Wilhelm Kreis for the huge GeSoLei exhibition of 1926, a showcase of health, welfare and sport in Weimar-era Germany. The city's art museum moved in two years later. In 2001 it reopened as Museum Kunstpalast, run by a foundation of the city and the energy company E.ON, after Oswald Mathias Ungers redesigned the interior behind the listed facade. The permanent collection was rehung in November 2023 following a major renovation.

Highlights of the collection

The museum holds more than 100,000 objects, presented under the playful title Alles Kunst?! Von Aldi bis Rubens ("Everything art?! From Aldi to Rubens"). Look out for:

• Flemish Baroque: about 300 works, including paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, plus a collection of Baroque oil sketches that is unique in Germany.
• Düsseldorf School of Painting: more than 1,200 paintings by the 19th-century artists who made the city's academy famous, influencing landscape painters as far away as the United States.
• Glasmuseum Hentrich: a vast collection of glass art.
• Creamcheese: relics of a legendary 1960s artists' bar linked to Heinz Mack, Günther Uecker and Nam June Paik.

Fall 2026 exhibitions include Niki de Saint Phalle. Dream Machine (through February 7, 2027), Immendorff (through January 10, 2027) and Spot on: 100 Years of GeSoLei (through February 21, 2027), with new shows opening in October and November.

Opening hours and tickets

As of October 2026, per the official website:

• Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Thursday until 9 p.m.; closed Mondays.
• Closed December 24, 25 and 31.
• Tickets 17 EUR, reduced 13 EUR, under 18 free.
• Wednesdays 2–6 p.m., collection-only tickets cost 9 EUR; on the first Thursday of the month the collection is free from 6 to 9 p.m.

How to get there

Düsseldorf is about 25 minutes by train from Cologne, and Düsseldorf Airport is linked to the main station by S-Bahn and regional trains. From Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, take subway lines U70, U74, U75, U76 or U77 to Tonhalle/Ehrenhof, right outside the museum. Trams 701, 705 and 706 stop at Sternstrasse, about five minutes away. Parking is available by the Rhine at Unteres Werft and in nearby garages.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, especially if you enjoy variety: in two to three hours you can go from Rubens to 1960s Düsseldorf avant-garde. The on-site Anna Maria café-restaurant makes a good break. Nearby are the NRW-Forum for photography and pop culture, the domed Tonhalle concert hall, the Rhine promenade leading to the Old Town, and the K20 modern art museum.