The Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart presides over a comprehensive collection of contemporary art, which it presents in a variety of exhibitions. It is the largest among the buildings housing the Nationalgalerie’s extensive holdings, the remainder of which are divided into the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Museum Berggruen, and the Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg.

The museum’s name refers to the building’s original function as one of the first terminal stations of the rail system in Germany. It opened as the terminus of the railway line between Hamburg and Berlin in December 1846. The building’s late Neoclassical style was conceived by the architect and railway pioneer Friedrich Neuhaus. It set an architectural precedent for the subsequent designs of Berlin’s train stations through the second half of the 19th century. Today it is preserved as the city’s only train station remaining from that time.

The museum expanded significantly to accommodate the long-term loan of the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection, which was exhibited at the museum from 2004 to 2021. The former dispatch warehouses located behind the main building were renovated by the architectural firm Kuehn Malvezzi and connected to the historical building via a passage. The resulting structures, which became known as Rieckhallen, increased the available exhibition space to approx. 10.000 square metres. Today the Nationalgalerie’s Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart division is one of the largest and most significant public collections of contemporary art in the world.

1–4: Exhibition view “Nationalgalerie: A Collection for the 21st Century”, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, 2023 © the artists / Nationalgalerie – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Jacopo La Forgia / 5: Joseph Beuys, Das Kapital Raum 1970–1977, Detail, 1980, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Sammlung Marx © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie / LaForgia © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023 / 6: Klára Hosnedlová, Performance in Berlin, 2024 © Klára Hosnedlová / 7: Mark Bradford: Keep Walking, Exhibition view, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart © Courtesy Mark Bradford und Hauser & Wirth / Photo: © Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie / Jacopo LaForgia / 8: Paul McCarthy: Saloon Theater, 1995–1999, 2008 donated by the Friedrich Christian Flick Collection © Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth / Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Schenkung der Friedrich Christian Flick Collection / Roman März