Kunstmuseum Bern, Art museum in Bern, Switzerland
Kunstmuseum Bern is a public art museum in the center of Bern, Switzerland, and one of the oldest of its kind in the country. It holds paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, and films ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day.
The museum was founded in 1879, making it one of the oldest public art museums in Switzerland. In 2014, it became internationally known when art dealer Cornelius Gurlitt left it a large collection of works, some of which had a disputed past.
Paul Klee, who was born near Bern, is represented here with one of the largest collections of his work in the world, making this a key place for understanding his art. Visitors can follow his style from early drawings to late paintings all in one building.
The museum sits in central Bern, within walking distance of the main train station, and is easy to reach by public transport. The building is accessible for visitors with reduced mobility, and audio guides are available in several languages.
After accepting the Gurlitt bequest in 2014, the museum set up a dedicated research team to trace the origin of each work and find out if any had been taken from Jewish owners during World War II. This ongoing process is considered a model for how museums should handle collections with a disputed past.
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