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Museum Fünf Kontinente

Museum Fünf Kontinente stands on Munich’s Maximilianstrasse, in a historic building shaped by vertical lines and intricate Perpendicular Style detail. Eduard Riedel designed it between 1859 and 1865. Built first for the Bavarian National Museum, the building now presents non-European art and cultural objects across several floors. Its 12,000 square metres include 4,500 square metres devoted to exhibitions.

The collections began with the Wittelsbach dynasty, whose early gathering of non-European artefacts shaped the institution. More than 200,000 objects make it Germany’s second-largest ethnological museum. Permanent displays place the Americas and Africa on the second floor, while the first floor covers the Islamic world and India. East Asian and Oceanian collections join Inca gold, African masks, and detailed Islamic art.

In April 2019, it began returning ancestral remains to Australia with a ceremony for the Yidindji nation. Wheelchair access is available within the building. One displayed highlight is the world’s oldest surviving kayak, preserved from 1577.

City
Munich
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