The Museum

Our museum is home to one of the most esteemed collections of Ancient Egyptian objects in the world. And so we invite you on a journey of discovery spanning 5,000 years of art and culture, where you can
glimpse fascinating insights into the world of Ancient Egypt along the way.

Housed in a spectacular subterranean building at the heart of the Kunstareal, a wide range of mediums await you on your journey – whether you are delving deep into the intricacies of Egyptian art or simply on a fun family outing. Different kinds of innovative media, in-person guided tours and other events allow you to curate your own individual museum experience.

Blick in den raum Kunst und zeit auf die Antninoos-Gruppe

Blick auf die Vitrine im Raum Fünf Jahrtausende mit Medienstationen im Vordergrund

Architecture

The uniqueness of the new museum is reflected in its architecture: the exhibition rooms lie underneath the green area in front of the School for Film and Television and are thus entirely subterranean. What, at first, seems to correspond to the usual vision of Ancient Egypt as a land of tombs and crypts, soon reveals itself as a “descent into the light”: down a wide stairway leading even further underground, the visitor emerges into large, cathedral-like rooms bathed in sunlight filtering in from a sunken atrium. The rest of the tour leads through alternating high, broad halls and more intimate, smaller rooms, with unexpected fenestrations giving glimpses of masterpieces already visited and yet to come.

Nowhere is the architecture truly egyptianizing – and yet, various details spark visions of Egyptian temple rooms and royal tombs within the visitor’s mind.

Designed by Peter and Gottfried Böhm in close association with the museum team, this architecture espouses the permanent exhibition’s new concept. No longer is the visitor led through a chronological panorama of Egyptian history, but instead discovers a series of halls dedicated to individual themes of Egypt’s art and culture.

Blick in den Raum Kunst und Form über drei Statuen auf die Eingangstreppe.

History of the Collection

Dokumentation der Sammlungsgeschichte des Museums auf der Galerie in der Ausstellung

The foundation of the collection goes back to the beginning of the 19^th century. Bavarian king Ludwig I. had already begun acquiring monuments for his planned Glyptothek while he was still Crown Prince. The second pillar of the Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich’s current collection were the acquisitions made by the Bavarian Academy of Science, mostly coffins and stela.

Collection Artworks

The State Museum of Egyptian Art houses a first-rate collection. Many of the objects on display, especially the statuary, are world-class.

Blick in den Raum Jenseitsglauben. Die Goldmaske der Satdjehuti spiegelt sich in der Glasabdeckung des Frühzeitgrabes.