Lenbachhaus

The Lenbachhaus in Munich's Maxvorstadt is the former studio villa of painter Franz von Lenbach, built in 1887 in an Italianate style with Moorish-inflected garden terraces. Its leap to global prominence came in 1957 when Gabriele Münter donated over 80 paintings and hundreds of drawings by Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, and August Macke — overnight transforming the museum into the single largest repository of Blue Rider art in the world. A major renovation completed in 2013 by architects Sauerbruch Hutton added a striking brushed-brass extension alongside the historic villa, a pairing that has itself become a talking point in architectural circles. The permanent Blue Rider galleries are complemented by rotating contemporary exhibitions, and the leafy inner courtyard offers a rare pocket of calm within Munich's densely packed art quarter.

Franz von Lenbach's former villa houses the world's largest Blaue Reiter collection — Kandinsky, Marc, Münter.