Albertinum

Description

At the eastern end of the Brühlsche Terrasse, on Tzschirnerplatz in Dresden, the Albertinum stands as part of the Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden and today houses the Galerie Neue Meister as well as the Skulpturensammlung ab 1800.

The building's fabric traces back to an arsenal from the Renaissance, erected in the mid-16th century as part of the city's expansion. Over the centuries it underwent several transformations, acquired a restrained Baroque façade in the 18th century and, after a new arsenal was completed, lost its military function. At the end of the 19th century the Saxon parliament decided to convert the complex into a museum; the house was given sandstone façades in the style of the Italian High Renaissance and, in honour of King Albert, received its current name. Before the Second World War the collection developed into an internationally recognised institution for the history of sculpture; during the bombing of Dresden in 1945 the building was severely damaged, interiors and collections suffered, and many works were temporarily taken abroad and later returned. In the post-war period the Albertinum was restored and was used for a time as an alternative location for several major Dresden collections. At the beginning of the 21st century a comprehensive refurbishment was carried out: a tall steel truss structure now spans the former inner courtyard, creating new rooms and providing additional flood-protected storage and workshops, while the historic building's fabric was preserved.

Since its reopening the Albertinum has presented itself as a museum of modern and contemporary art with a focus on the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. The Galerie Neue Meister offers a chronological tour from early Romanticism through Impressionism and Expressionism to contemporary art; major presentations are devoted, for example, to Caspar David Friedrich, Monet, Degas, Otto Dix and Gerhard Richter. The Skulpturensammlung ab 1800 on the ground floor documents sculpture since the 19th century, beginning with Auguste Rodin and explicitly including sculpture from the GDR. Glass-enclosed visible storage makes previously rarely shown holdings accessible, including a statue more than five metres high after Michelangelo's David.