Hamburger Kunsthalle, Art museum near Central Station, Hamburg, Germany
Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum on Glockengießerwall in Hamburg's Altstadt, between the Hauptbahnhof and the Alster lakes. It consists of three connected buildings: the red-brick Altbau (1863–1869) with a Renaissance-style facade and terracotta medallions, the neoclassical Kuppelsaal extension (1914–1921) in shell limestone, and the cubic Galerie der Gegenwart (1997) in Portuguese limestone. Inside the Altbau, a glass-paned lightwell roof sits above vaulted bays, and a stone balustrade lines the staircase.
The collection was founded in 1849 by the Hamburg Kunstverein and opened to the public in 1850 as the Städtische Gallerie. The red-brick main building, designed by Georg Theodor Schirrmacher and Hermann von der Hude, was constructed from 1863 to 1869 with private donations. The domed Kuppelsaal extension by Fritz Schumacher followed between 1914 and 1921, and the Galerie der Gegenwart by Oswald Mathias Ungers opened in 1997.
The name Kunsthalle recalls the museum's origin as an 'art hall': the Hamburg Kunstverein, founded in 1817, established the collection in 1849 and opened it to the public a year later as the Städtische Gallerie. The three buildings are linked, and the entrance to the old building faces the Galerie der Gegenwart across Glockengießerwall. The old building's brick facade carries 36 terracotta medallions with artists' portraits.
The entrance is in the old building at Glockgiejßerwall, opposite the Galerie der Gegenwart; the three buildings are linked internally, so one ticket covers all. The S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations at the Hauptbahnhof are a few minutes' walk away, and the Binnenalster is just beyond. The old building's skylit halls are brightest around midday.
The Kupferstichkabinett holds over 130,000 sheets, and the library contains more than 175,000 volumes, including about 3,000 illustrated books. Many items can be consulted in the on-site study and reading rooms. Nearly 70,000 works, among them more than 57,000 drawings and prints, are digitized in the online collection.
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