Reopening of the Museum of East Asian Art

The Cologne Museum is Germany's oldest special museum for the art of China, Korea, and Japan. The foundation was laid by Adolf and Frieda Fischer with their own private collection. The Cologne Museum of East Asian Art was opened in the year 1913. The architect in charge of construction was Franz Brantzky.
The first Museum building was destroyed in World War II, and it was not until 1977 that the new building, based on the plans of the Japanese architect Kunio Maekawa (1906- 1986), was ready for occupation. The building fits harmoniously into a landscape of scattered tree groups and hilly meadows. All recent extension and conversion work, necessary because of the continuing growth of the collection, was focused on efforts to retain the original architectural design by Maekawa as authentically as possible.
In order to create an organic link between the old and the new exhibition rooms, the new galleries are situated around the Japanese landscape garden designed by Masayuki Nagare (born 1923) and conveys to visitors an idea of the Japanese approach to landscape and space. While the original rooms, which have artificial light, show painting and sculpture, Japanese screen painting, and woodblock prints, the new daylight-flooded rooms present bronze, jade, ceramic, porcelain, lacquer and cloisonne works as well as classical Chinese furniture.
The collections cover all branches of the art of China, Korea, and Japan, with focuses on Chinese ritual bronzes of the 16th to the 11th century BC and ceramics and on Japanese Buddhist wooden sculpture and painting of the 9th to the 18th centuries. Other focuses are on Korean ceramics of the Koryþ dynasty, 10th to 14th centuries, lacquer ware and Japanese screens.
The displays are changed several times a year, and special exhibitions highlight specific features.

Museum of East Asian Art
Universitätsstr 100
50674 Köln
Germany
Tel: +49-221-9405180
Fax: +49-221-407290
Tuesday to Friday: 10.00-16.00 hrs
Saturday, Sunday: 11.00-16.00 hrs
Closed on Monday