It enjoys a worldwide Reputation due to its outstanding collections and varied exhibitions. The museum presents applied european arts from the ancient world to the present, and important collections of east asian works as well as modern design, graphic work and photographs by international artists. As otherwise nowhere in Germany the visitor can due to this variety become aware of dependences between the different cultures and epoches. The Museum of Decorative Arts, founded in 1877.
Today belongs to the few world famous museums.
It has attained an excellent reputation in many fields besides to its possession of European arts and crafts. The European collection is its heart. The visitor can study the Ancient Worlds as roots of the western culture as well as the Middle Ages and the modern epoches. Renaissance, the Arts and Crafts of the 17th to 19th Century, Art Nouveau and the Modern Arts are presented with sculptures, goldsmith works, ivorys, porcelains, facences, furniture as well as whole interior decorations. Beyond this the collection of East Asian Art with early bronzes, precious ceramics, lacquerworks as well as paintings and graphics are highly significant.