Traveling by car from Lüneburg to Bavaria gave us an opportunity to make an overnight stop in Nurnberg at the Hotel Drei Raben. I had stayed here a couple of years before on my trip to Bayreuth for the Ring.

Just steps across the hotel in the historic pedestrian zone is the Neuses Museum. It was an unexpected find, with collection of Gerhard Richters and Bernard Luries. The museum’s widely swooped facade was a dramatic complement to the historic buildings surrounding the museum.

Inside, the whimsical staircase draws you immediately to the collections upstairs. The curved exterior wall contrasts intimate views of old buildings outside. It guides your eye along the entire length of the neighborhood. Generous community and additional gallery space are located in the level below.

The building was one of many numerous museum, school and research facilities designed by Staab Architects. Notable projects include the Albertinum in Dresden and the Max Planck Institute in Heidelberg.

The Neues Museum proudly houses a permanent collection of Gerhard Richter paintings. Because Richter’s work imbeds a long span of both German and modern art history, his paintings are in high demand and sell for over $30 million at global auction houses.

Richter was born in Dresden and got his training at the Dresden Academy of Art. He later joined the Dusseldorf Academy and taught there. He designed the south window of Köln Cathedral in his signature pattern of colorful squares.

Richter uses horizontal brush strokes and dry brush techniques to obscure the subject matter. In doing so, he forces the viewer to question what is real. This insight helped me to appreciate the beauty of his work.

Bernard Lurie is another artist originally from Eastern Europe. He fled to Berlin during WW2 and then eventually made his way to the US. His sculpting of the human figure and graphic references to the human form appealed to me.

Nurnberg along the Pedestrian Zone

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Good Design Award

Look! A Charging Station! Also. storage for large carry-on bags for tourists schlepping from the nearby railway station makes this museum a top hit for me.