Morsbroich Museum

Leverkusen, Germany

The Museum Morsbroich ( or Morsbroich Castle Municipal Museum (Städtisches Museum Schloss Morsbroich), is a German museum of modern art situated in Leverkusen, 20 km north of Cologne. Formerly a Baroque castle, it is now a municipal museum for the exhibition of modern and contemporary art. It also provides the setting for theatrical productions and other cultural events under the title "Morsbroich Summer". In 1948 the castle was leased to the city of Leverkusen. Since 1951 it is used as an exhibition space. In 1974 it was sold to the city of Leverkusen and subsequently renovated in order to permanently function as the city's museum of modern art. The Museum Morsbroich was the first museum in North Rhine-Westphalia explicitly exhibiting works by famous international post-war painters, sculptors and installation artists. It presented artists such as Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, Louise Nevelson, Andy Warhol and Robert Motherwell. During the last 50 years it collected 400 paintings and sculptures and 5000 prints by contemporary artists. In 2009, the Museum Morsbroich was named "museum of the year" by the German section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA). A report by KPMG published in February 2016 suggested closing the museum to reduce costs.