Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

The Gemäldegalerie opened in 1830 as part of Berlin's Royal Museum, distinguished from other European collections by being built through systematic acquisition rather than inherited from a royal dynasty. The Prussian government began purchasing in 1815, and director Wilhelm von Bode transformed the museum between 1890 and 1929. A Rembrandt specialist, Bode made extraordinary additions to the Dutch holdings while building comprehensive Italian and German collections. World War II destroyed over 400 paintings, and Cold War division split the collection between East and West Berlin.

Reunification came in 1998 when the entire collection moved to a new building in the Kulturforum designed by Hilmer & Sattler. Today the Gemäldegalerie holds roughly 3,000 European paintings from the 13th to 18th centuries. Rembrandt occupies the central galleries with 20 works, one of the world's finest collections. Raphael's Solly Madonna represents the Italian Renaissance. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Frans Hals, and Diego Velázquez demonstrate the collection's breadth across Northern and Southern European schools.