Haus der Kunst, Munich

Haus der Kunst is an exhibition building for modern and contemporary art, standing on Prinzregentenstraße at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten. Adolf Hitler commissioned it, and Paul Ludwig Troost designed it; construction ran from 1933 to 1937 as the Haus der Deutschen Kunst. Its monumental neoclassical architecture served the cultural ambitions of the Nazi regime.

Look along the long façade at the immense colonnades: each side has a portico with 21 monumental, unfluted columns rising through the full height of the building. The structure measures 175 metres in length and reaches 50 metres across its broad central section. Stone cladding covers a steel framework, giving the building the appearance of a solid stone construction.

The history here is inseparable from propaganda. Its opening on 18 July 1937 featured a parade involving 6,000 participants, presenting the regime’s preferred image of German art. Today, Haus der Kunst has no permanent collection of its own.

It presents temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art, under the artistic direction of Andrea Lissoni since February 2020. The former Künstlerfestraum now contains the Goldene Bar. Its murals by Karl Heinz Dallinger, restored through 2004, use a gold-leaf background for maps and images connected with the origins of drinks and luxury goods.