Städel Museum

The Städel Museum is Frankfurt's foremost art institution and one of the oldest museum foundations in Germany, tracing European art from the early 14th century through to the present day. Located on the south bank of the Main River along the Museumsufer, it holds a collection built up over two centuries, encompassing paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and photographs.

What sets the Städel apart is the sheer range packed into one building: visitors can move from Gothic altarpieces and Dutch Golden Age portraits to German Expressionism and contemporary installations, all within a single visit. The museum pairs its historic 19th-century halls with a striking underground extension, making it as notable for its architecture as for what hangs on its walls.

Founding by Johann Friedrich Städel

The museum owes its existence to Johann Friedrich Städel, a Frankfurt banker and merchant who wanted his home city to have an art institution comparable to the Louvre or the Uffizi. When he died in 1816, he left his house, his private art collection, and a substantial portion of his fortune to establish a public art institute and an affiliated art school, now known as the Städelschule.

Städel's will contained an unusual instruction: works in the collection judged not to be top quality could be sold off to fund the acquisition of better ones, a principle that shaped the institution's approach to collecting from the very beginning.

Growth and Relocation

The collection quickly outgrew Städel's former residence and moved through several temporary homes before a purpose-built museum was constructed on the banks of the Main in the second half of the 19th century. Over the following decades, citizen donations and targeted acquisitions expanded the holdings well beyond the founder's original bequest.

20th-Century Disruption and Recovery

During the Nazi era, the museum lost a significant number of modern artworks to confiscation as part of the campaign against so-called "degenerate art." The institution rebuilt its modern and contemporary holdings in the decades after the Second World War, gradually restoring its reputation as one of the country's leading art museums.

The Städel's holdings span roughly 700 years and include around 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, some 100,000 drawings and prints, and thousands of photographs. The permanent collection is arranged chronologically, allowing visitors to trace the development of European art period by period rather than jumping between eras.

Old Masters

The museum's Old Master holdings include work by Sandro Botticelli, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and Johannes Vermeer, alongside strong representation of German and Dutch painting from the Gothic period through the Baroque.

19th Century and Modernism

German Romanticism is well represented, alongside French Impressionism and early modernism, with works by artists such as Claude Monet and Edvard Munch. The museum is particularly known for its holdings of German Expressionism.

Contemporary Art and Photography

Beyond painting, the Städel houses a significant collection of contemporary art and photography, with works by artists including Gerhard Richter, Andy Warhol, and Wolfgang Tillmans, reflecting the museum's ongoing commitment to collecting art of the present day alongside its historic holdings.

The Städel occupies a striking combination of 19th-century and contemporary architecture. The original building is a grand neo-classical structure whose formal galleries provide a traditional setting for the Old Master and 19th-century collections.

The Garden Halls Extension

In 2012, the museum unveiled a major extension known as the Garden Halls, designed by the Frankfurt firm Schneider+Schumacher. Built largely underground beneath the museum's garden, the extension added roughly 3,000 square metres of naturally lit exhibition space for the modern and contemporary collection, topped by a distinctive domed roof punctuated with circular skylights.

The result is a deliberate architectural contrast: visitors move from the hushed, traditionally lit rooms of the historic building into the bright, minimalist spaces of the Garden Halls, a transition that mirrors the shift from historic to contemporary art.

The museum grounds include the Städel Garden, which is free to enter and doubles as an open-air sculpture space, featuring works by artists such as George Rickey and Adolf Luther alongside seating areas overlooking the Main.

Since 2024, visitors have also been able to access the Städel Rooftop, a terrace atop the museum building offering panoramic views over the Frankfurt skyline, a rare vantage point for a city known for its high-rise silhouette.

• Permanent collection: a chronological walk through 700 years of European art, from the Gothic period to today
• Special exhibitions: rotating shows drawn from the museum's own holdings or featuring international loans
• Guided tours: regularly scheduled tours in German and English covering the permanent collection or current exhibitions
• Digitalized Städel: an online collection database and a VR experience that recreates the museum as it looked in 1878
• Städel Rooftop: a separate ticketed or combined visit for skyline views

The Städel tends to be busiest on weekends and during major special exhibitions featuring international loans, so visiting on a weekday morning generally means smaller crowds and more room to view individual works.

The museum runs a Tuesday Special from 3 to 6 pm, offering combined access to the permanent collection and most special exhibitions at a reduced single price, making Tuesday afternoons a good option for budget-conscious visitors willing to trade a slightly narrower time window for lower cost.

• Book tickets online in advance for major special exhibitions, which can sell out or involve timed entry during peak periods
• The MuseumsuferCard covers the permanent collection and exhibitions from the museum's own holdings, but not major loan exhibitions, so check what's currently on view before relying on it
• Set aside at least two to three hours to see the permanent collection properly, more if a special exhibition is also on your list
• The Städel Garden is free and open even without an exhibition ticket, making it worth a stop even on a short visit to the area
• Check current opening hours before visiting, as the museum closes on some public holidays and keeps modified hours around Christmas and New Year

The Städel sits on the Museumsufer, Frankfurt's "museum embankment," which brings together dozens of museums along both banks of the Main, making it easy to combine a visit with several other cultural stops in a single trip.

• Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection, just along the riverbank
• Museum für Kommunikation and German Architecture Museum, both nearby on the Museumsufer
• Sachsenhausen district, known for its traditional taverns and apple wine culture
• Frankfurt Old Town and Römerberg, a short walk across the river