The Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek - Antike am Königsplatz

The Staatliche Antikensammlungen und die Glyptothek (State Collections of Antiquities and Sculpture Gallery) belong to the internationally leading museums for ancient art. Greek, Roman and Etruscan masterworks are presented in an architectural framework initiated by the Bavarian king Ludwig I (1786–1868, r. 1825–1848). During the years 1816 to 1830, Leo von Klenze (1784–1864) created on the northern side of the Munich Königsplatz the Glyptothek with its front-hall resting on Ionian columns. South of the square, Georg Friedrich Ziebland (1800–1873) constructed between 1838 and 1848 the building with its Corinthian façade, in which the present Antikensammlungen is housed. The ensemble was finally complemented by the Propylaea to the West of the square, which Klenze erected in the Doric order between 1846 and 1860 in accordance with the model of the classical gateway to the Athenian Acropolis (fifth century).

The collectibles of the museums located on the Königsplatz were in part gathered for the kunstkammer of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria (1550–1579). The Wittelsbachs increased their art collections in the "Antiquarium" of the Munich Residenz (Residence) during the following two centuries in accordance with their personal interests. Finally, Ludwig I began still as crown prince to acquire large amounts of antiquities from Italy. Within a short period, he managed to bestow world renown of these collections. Later on, the museum inventory continued to grow by means of donations and new acquisitions by the state. Such substantial and important increases proceed well into the present. The collectibles, therefore, cover a chronological frame, starting with the Cycladic culture of the Aegean in the third millennium BC and extending to late antiquity in the fifth century AD.

While the Greek and Roman sculptures have been presented in the Glyptothek since 1830 without interruption, the other collectibles such as vases, bronzes and jewellery were distributed over several locations. The figured vases were displayed at first – at Ludwig’s request – in the Alte Pinakothek (Old Masters’ Gallery) as an example of European painting, while the other objects formed part of the exhibition in the Neue Pinakothek (Gallery of European art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) from 1872. Only during WWI the diverse collections were gathered together in the Alte Pinakothek. Since 1967, they have been exhibited in the building on Königsplatz.

Collections owned by the Staatliche Antikensammlungen and Glyptothek available on bavarikon

Contact

Staatliche Antikensammlungen und Glyptothek (Direktion)
Katharina-von-Bora-Straße 10
80333 München

Telephone: +49 (0)89/28927-502
Fax: +49 (0)89/28927-516
E-mail: info@antike-am-koenigsplatz.mwn.de


Staatliche Antikensammlungen (Museum)
Königsplatz 1
80333 München

Telephone: +49 (0)89/59988830


Glyptothek (Museum)
Königsplatz 3
80333 München

Telephone: +49 (0)89/286100