Hamburger Kunsthalle

Hamburger Kunsthalle
with Galerie der Gegenwart
	Location of Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg
Established	1869
Location	Hamburg, Germany
Type	Art
Director	Hubertus Gaßner
Public transit access	Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
Website	hamburger-kunsthalle.de

The Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum in Hamburg, Germany. The art museum focuses on painting in Hamburg in the 14th century, paintings by Dutch and Flemish artists of the 16th and 17th centuries, French and German paintings of the 19th century, modern, and contemporary art. It consists of three connected buildings located in the city center, near the Central Station and the Binnenalster lake.

History

The first museum was built from 1863 to 1869 by architects Georg Theodor Schirrmacher and Hermann von der Hude. Architect Fritz Schumacher designed the second building, erected in 1919. Planned and constructed from 1976 until 1997, the Galerie der Gegenwart was built by O. M. Ungers.^[1]

Collection

The museum houses an important collection of painting from the 19th century with works from Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth, Philipp Otto Runge, Caspar David Friedrich, Adolf Menzel. The Gallerie der Gegenwart is devoted to modern arts from the early 20th century, e.g. Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, and Max Beckmann, and art after 1945.^[2]

One painting by the Kunsthalle was involved in the Frankfurt art theft of 1994. While on loan to the Kunsthalle Schirn in Frankfurt, the painting Nebelschwaden by Caspar David Friedrich was stolen. After negotiations with the thieves, a lawyer bought back the painting; when the Kunsthalle refused to pay him the agreed "consideration", he sued and won.^{[citation needed]}

Caspar David Friedrich: Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog
Caspar David Friedrich: The sea of ice
Carl Blechen: Palm House on the Pfaueninsel near Potsdam
Paul Cézanne: The Seine near Bercy
Albrecht Dürer: Lion
Max Liebermann: Birch alley in Wannsee garden
Paul Gauguin: Bathing boys in Britanny
Statue by Hermann Hahn next to the main entrance