GEMÄLDEGALERIE

The collections of the Gemäldegalerie, an institution founded in 1830, are largely based on the acquisitions of the monarchs Frederick William I of Brandenburg ("the Great Elector") and Frederick II "the Great" in the 17th and 18th centuries. The collection has undergone many moves. When it was founded in 1830, the works were exhibited in a museum (today's Altes Museum) built by the Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel on the Lustgarten. In 1904, the Gemäldegalerie moved into the newly built Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (now Bode-Museum) at the tip of Museum Island. The bombing of the Second World War was responsible for the destruction of almost 400 paintings. The post-war division of the city forced part of the Gemäldegalerie collection to move to the Dahlem district on the outskirts of West Berlin. It was not until 1998 that the Gemäldegalerie was able to return to the centre of Berlin by moving into a modern building at the Kulturforum, a stone's throw from Potsdamer Platz. Today, this art gallery, one of the richest in Europe, covers the history of painting from the 13th to the 18th century with works by great masters: Cranach, Holbein, Vermeer, Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, Botticelli, Van Dyck...

With more than 72 rooms and a reserve of nearly 1,000 pieces, this museum is unique and you will be able to discover a collection worthy of the best art galleries in Italy and throughout Europe. Start with rooms 1 to 4, which contain German medieval art at its peak. Continue on to admire masterpieces of German Renaissance art, with paintings by Dürer, Lucas Cranach and Hans Holbein. In rooms 5 to 8, you can see some of the finest works of Flemish art. Between Hals, Van der Weyden, Van Dyck, Vermeer, Van Eyck and Breughel, you will not know what to expect. On your journey through the art history of Northern Europe, you will then see the paintings of Rubens. At the back, grouped around room 10, one of the treasures of the collection: 17 works by Rembrandt, exhibited in a special light to highlight contrasts and colours. After a brief excursion into the glory days of English (Gainsbourough and Reynolds) and French (Watteau, de La Tour, Chardin) gallant painting, the second part of the visit is devoted to Southern Europe: starting in Room 23, you will have the opportunity to see some of the most important paintings by the Spaniard Diego Velasquez. But the focus is on the Italian masters of the 13th to 18th centuries, as a detour across the Alps to discover the unrivalled know-how of the Venetian School and its greatest representatives : Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Canaletto... Finally, to end this grandiose visit, you will have the opportunity to admire the works of those who, five centuries ago, revolutionized art: the Tuscan painters of the Renaissance. In rooms 32 to 41, the pantheon of Italian painters seems to be reunited: Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Pietro della Francesca, Mantegna, Botticelli and Raphael. It should also be noted that the central hall hosts quality temporary exhibitions. Don't hesitate to get the audioguide in French at the reception desk; it draws your attention to interesting elements of the most - and least - known works.