Bucerius Kunst Forum

What makes it special

From the street the house looks like the rest of Alter Wall, set behind listed historic facades, but the block inside has been completely redesigned. Its stair has steps, side panels, balustrades and handrails all in dark walnut, set against a floor of dark terrazzo.

Glass laid into the floors lets daylight down into the stairwell, which is known as the Himmelstreppe, the sky stair.

The exhibition hall at the top can be used as one large open room or divided into many small cabinets. Luminous panels cover its whole ceiling, designed to light any kind of artwork, whether paintings, prints or objects.

Each exhibition is put together in co-operation with other museums and collections. The house has four floors in all, with the hall on the first.

Visiting

Tickets are sold at the cash desk on the ground floor, or online beforehand. From the desk, go down to the cloakroom in the basement and leave your coat there before you start.

Then come back up and climb the stair to the exhibition hall on the first floor, where the show is hung.

On the way out, stop at the Bucerius Book Shop, which shares the ground floor with the cash desk and stocks a carefully chosen range of specialist art books.

Guided or on your own

Public tours of the current exhibition are in German only, and are sold separately from the exhibition ticket.

If you do not speak German, use the free BKF Guide app instead: download it to your phone before you arrive, choose the English version, and go round at your own pace.

Tips

Your exhibition ticket can be used on any other day while the show runs, so a change of plan does not waste it.

On Monday and Friday evenings, from five to seven, the house runs two kinds of stroll: Silent Strolls on Mondays, Kunst im Ruhemodus, for looking at the art in quiet, and Sound Strolls on Fridays, Kunst trifft Musik, which pair the art with music. Event tickets cannot be returned, but you can pass them on to someone else.