The Museum Schnütgen has a large collection of medieval art, accentuated and enriched by a selection of Christian sculptures from the post medieval period. The museum’s collection traces back to founder and eponym Alexander Schnütgen (1843-1918), who compiled a large part of today’s collection in the last third of the 19th century.
In 1906, Alexander Schnütgen, cathedral canon of Cologne, gave his private collection to the city of Cologne under the condition that a museum be established for it. Since then, the museum has known a varied history: different locations, alternating presentations of the permanent collection and newly acquired artworks have shaped and changed the collection. Numerous large exhibitions, which are discussed in detail in the exhibition retrospective, have made it possible to interest the general public in the art of the Middle Ages.
