Museum der Bildenden Künste (Museum of Fine Arts), Leipzig

The Museum of Fine Arts (Museum der bildenden Künste) in Leipzig showcases artworks from the Late Middle Ages to the modern era. Founded by the "Leipzig Art Association" in 1837, the museum opened on December 10, 1848, in a public school on Moritz Bastion with around 100 contemporary works. The collection grew significantly through donations from collectors like Maximilian Speck von Sternburg, Alfred Thieme, and Adolf Heinrich Schletter. A key donation in 1853 by Adolf Fer, contingent on building a new museum, led to the 1858 opening of a new Italian Renaissance-style building on Augustus Square (Augustusplatz), designed by Ludwig Lange and later expanded by Hugo Licht.

In the early 20th century, the museum's collection continued to grow, enriched by donations from Fritz von Harck. However, during the Nazi regime's Degenerate Art campaign in 1937, 394 Expressionist works were confiscated. The museum building on Augustusplatz was destroyed in a British air raid on December 4, 1943, though much of the collection had been preserved by then.

After its destruction, the museum operated in temporary locations. In the mid-1990s, Leipzig pledged a permanent home, resulting in a new building on Saxony Square (Sachsenplatz), which opened on December 4, 2004—61 years after the original's destruction. Designed by Hufnagel Pütz Rafaelian, the 34-meter-high structure features a unique rectangular design with angled corners and connects to surrounding streets.

Today, the museum's collection includes approximately 3,500 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, and 60,000 graphic sheets, spanning from the Late Middle Ages to contemporary times. Highlights include Old German and Early Netherlandish art from the 15th and 16th centuries, Italian works from the 15th to 18th centuries, 17th-century Dutch art, 19th-century French art, and German works from the 18th to 20th centuries.