Museum of East Asian Art

The exhibition rooms of the Museum of East Asian Art welcome visitors with a soothing, immediate calm upon entering. As if contemplation itself had found a new home here. However, the restrained and minimalist atmosphere modestly conceals the great importance of this first specialized museum in Europe.

1913 opened in 1913, the Museum of East Asian Art in Cologne today houses the most important collection of East Asian art from China, Korea and Japan in Germany - alongside the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin.

With the museum, the founding couple and collectors Frieda and Adolf Fischer aimed for an "unbiased" view of East Asian art and a new perspective of "equal world art" - beyond geographical and cultural differences. At the time, this was a modern, cosmopolitan and revolutionary approach in view of the German colonial policy of the time.

The two world wars pushed back the idea and further collecting activities, bombs destroyed the museum building on Hansaring. Although a large part of the collection was saved, some small-format objects were unfortunately lost in a bunker near Cologne due to theft. With the reopening in 1977 in the new museum building on Universitätsstraße, a new start was made to continue the original idea.

The museum was extended in 1997, but you will only ever see part of the important collection due to lack of space. The museum changes its presentation several times a year. The best thing to do is to visit the museum more often. The collection includes important exhibits such as - to name just a few of the highlights - a Chinese carillon with 9 bronze bells from around 800 BC, the only surviving carillon of its kind outside of China. Or rare Japanese screens, illustrated scrolls, Buddhist paintings, woodcuts or valuable lacquerware as well as over 70 pieces of Korean ceramics, which is one of the best collections in Europe.

Equally interesting is the collection of historical photographs, especially the hand-colored ones from Japanese photo studios. Of course, new pieces are constantly being added, such as the walk-in bronze sculpture "Usagi Kannon" by Leiko Ikemura.

The museum building itself is outstanding and a significant testimony to the times. The architecture of today's Museum of East Asian Art shows simple, modern restraint, which ties in with old Japanese traditions: cubic structures of different sizes and heights are strictly grouped around an interior landscape garden in the style of a Japanese meditation garden. The glazed, slightly uneven ceramic tiles of the exterior façade shimmer in warm brown tones - and in the foyer, high glass walls open up the space to the atrium and the Aachen pond. You walk through the wide and brightly lit exhibition rooms on sand-colored sisal, among other things.

Japanese architect Maekawa designed the museum and its outdoor facilities, while Cologne architect Joachim Jacobs implemented the design. Sculptor Masayuki Nagare from Tokyo designed the concrete island with sculpture in front of the terrace, among other things. The museum with its atrium, foyer, exhibition rooms and esplanade has been a listed building since 2012.

Overall, the exterior, interior, form, purpose and aesthetics prove to be a homogeneous unit with a striking Euro-East Asian character, thus recalling the basic idea of the museum, the equal correspondence of cultures.

The broad program of the Museum of East Asian Art offers a variety of themed tours throughout the year as well as exhibition-specific tours, lectures and workshops - also for children and families. Perhaps you would like to learn more about the Chinese tea ceremony, practise techniques such as calligraphy or origami and not only see Asian culture, but also cultivate it yourself? Here in the museum you have the opportunity to do just that.

Either through the large panoramic window or directly from the terrace, the Museum of East Asian Art is also a great place to relax - with a view of the Aachener Weiher. At the weekend, the coffee bike also stops here, offering a variety of coffees, refreshments and snacks.

By the way: you can park at the Museum of East Asian Art in one of the free parking spaces with a parking disc, provided you don't come by train.