100 years, 100 objects on the 100th Anniversary of the Neue Sammlung
Exhibition
/
22 May 2025
-
30 May 2027
Published: 19.05.2025

On May 21, 1925 Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum was founded. Exactly 100 years later to the day, Die Neue Sammlung presents itself with an exhibition of 100 objects. The selection for the 100th anniversary illustrates the richness and diversity of its collection. With over 120,000 international objects covering 20 different areas, Die Neue Sammlung is considered the world’s largest design museum.
The selection presents not only iconic works and evidence of collection’s history but also many unknown treasures that have never before gone on display at Pinakothek der Moderne. The presentation does not follow the customary chronology but focuses instead on the time when the museum acquired the respective object. It paints a new picture of the institution’s collection history.
Since its foundation in 1925, Die Neue Sammlung has been the first state design museum in Germany to collect contemporary. It purchases objects at international fairs, from training institutions – at the time from the Bauhaus and Kunstgewerbeschule Burg Giebichenstein – or straight from the designer. The collection also benefits specifically from donations, bequests of estates, and acquisitions from the art trade.
In the early days, the focus was on mass-produced and artisanal objects made from materials such as glass, ceramics, metal, furniture, textiles, wickerwork pieces, as well as packaging, posters, and books. After 1945, against the backdrop of a prospering West German economy, technical appliances formed a key strand in collecting activities. Not until the 1960s were Art Nouveau objects rediscovered, such as the Parisian Metro station design by Hector Guimard. With their first museum’s exhibition of images by Bernd and Hilla Becher in 1967, Die Neue Sammlung started collecting photographs.
In the 1980s, the collection was expanded to also feature computer and vehicle design, sports equipment, load-bearing architecture and systems, and corporate design.
Given the predominant focus hitherto on the “Good Form”, with its substantive emphasis on the ideals of the German Werkbund, not until the 1990s did Die Neue Sammlung on-board the revolutionary anti-design of Alchimia and Memphis. Jewelry has been given a new thrust with an emphasis on studio jewelry. With German unification, East German design came into focus.
Design work from outside Europe is strongly represented by works from the United States and Japan, and over the last 20 years, interest has also shifted to other cultural areas.
Over the last decade, topics such as AI, robotics, sustainability, social design, and inclusion have all come into focus.
Collection online
To mark this anniversary year, Die Neue Sammlung is also presenting part of its collection digitally for the first time. More than 1,000 objects can be explored online – including highlights from the collection . The Collection Online is linked to the museum’s freely accessible website.
More information HERE
Opening: 21.05.2025, 07.00 pm
Duration of the exhibition: 22.05.2025 – 30.05.2027
Media conference: 21.05.2025, 11.00 am
Since its foundation in 1925, Die Neue Sammlung has been the first state design museum in Germany to collect contemporary. It purchases objects at international fairs, from training institutions – at the time from the Bauhaus and Kunstgewerbeschule Burg Giebichenstein – or straight from the designer. The collection also benefits specifically from donations, bequests of estates, and acquisitions from the art trade.
In the early days, the focus was on mass-produced and artisanal objects made from materials such as glass, ceramics, metal, furniture, textiles, wickerwork pieces, as well as packaging, posters, and books. After 1945, against the backdrop of a prospering West German economy, technical appliances formed a key strand in collecting activities. Not until the 1960s were Art Nouveau objects rediscovered, such as the Parisian Metro station design by Hector Guimard. With their first museum’s exhibition of images by Bernd and Hilla Becher in 1967, Die Neue Sammlung started collecting photographs.
In the 1980s, the collection was expanded to also feature computer and vehicle design, sports equipment, load-bearing architecture and systems, and corporate design.
Given the predominant focus hitherto on the “Good Form”, with its substantive emphasis on the ideals of the German Werkbund, not until the 1990s did Die Neue Sammlung on-board the revolutionary anti-design of Alchimia and Memphis. Jewelry has been given a new thrust with an emphasis on studio jewelry. With German unification, East German design came into focus.
Design work from outside Europe is strongly represented by works from the United States and Japan, and over the last 20 years, interest has also shifted to other cultural areas.
Over the last decade, topics such as AI, robotics, sustainability, social design, and inclusion have all come into focus.
Collection online
To mark this anniversary year, Die Neue Sammlung is also presenting part of its collection digitally for the first time. More than 1,000 objects can be explored online – including highlights from the collection . The Collection Online is linked to the museum’s freely accessible website.
More information HERE
Opening: 21.05.2025, 07.00 pm
Duration of the exhibition: 22.05.2025 – 30.05.2027
Media conference: 21.05.2025, 11.00 am
-
From Louise Bourgeois to Yoko Ono. Jewellery by Female Artists
21Nov2025 - 26Apr2026
MAKK. Museum of Applied Arts Cologne
Köln, Germany -
Trilogia: Ressons de Babel, Paraules Guarnides by Fumiko Gotô
01Oct2025 - 24Oct2025
Hannah Gallery
Barcelona, Spain -
Shine 2025: The Goldsmiths' Centre champions the UK's Brightest New Talent in Jewellery and Silversmithing
17Sep2025 - 22Dec2025
The Goldsmiths’ Centre
London, United Kingdom -
Companions: Jewellery Created by Alexander Blank
25Jul2025 - 05Oct2025
Pforzheim Jewellery Museum
Pforzheim, Germany -
Pride Exhibition by Paul Derrez
25Jul2025 - 03Aug2025
The Pool
Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Cocks and Cunts
25Jul2025 - 02Aug2025
The WearHouse
Amsterdam, Netherlands -
Melody within Matter by Youngjoo Lee
16Jul2025 - 27Jul2025
KCDF Gallery
Seoul, South Korea -
Werkschau. University of Applied Sciences. Peter Behrens School of Arts, New Craft Object Design Degree Show 2025
11Jul2025 - 12Jul2025
Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, Peter Behrens School of Arts, New Craft Object Design
Düsseldorf, Germany -
Menhir by Jim Kraft
11Jul2025 - 31Jul2025
Patina Gallery
Santa Fe, United States -
Kaleidoscope. BFA students Graduate Show 2025
11Jul2025 - 12Jul2025
Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School
Florence, Italy -
The 21st Silver Triennial at DIVA: an International Perspective on Contemporary Silver
04Jul2025 - 30Sep2025
DIVA. Museum for diamonds, jewellery and silver
Antwerp, Belgium -
Von der Sprache der Steine at Villa Bengel
04Jul2025 - 19Oct2025
Villa Bengel
Idar Oberstein, Germany -
A Forest Not of Wood by Yuxi Lu
02Jul2025 - 21Jul2025
MaS Studio
Shanghai, China -
Hunter of Unrecognized Treasures by Philipp Spillmann
28Jun2025 - 26Jul2025
Friends of Carlotta
Zurich, Switzerland -
Incontro with Vera Siemund and Giampaolo Babetto
28Jun2025 - 29Jun2025
Galerie Rosemarie Jäger
Hochheim, Germany