Städel Museum

The Städel is one of the great German art museums and the centrepiece of the Museumsufer. Founded in 1815 by the banker Johann Friedrich Städel as a bequest to the city, its collection of more than 3,000 paintings and 100,000 prints runs from the late Middle Ages to the present. Top-floor highlights include Tischbein's iconic portrait of Goethe lounging in the Roman campagna, Vermeer's "Geographer", Rembrandt, Botticelli, Cranach, and a Dürer self-portrait; the second floor has the 19th-century rooms — Manet, Monet, Cézanne, Degas, Renoir, Beckmann, Kirchner.

The basement contemporary wing — added in 2012 under the museum garden — is the surprise: a vast naturally lit space showing post-war works by Bacon, Picasso, Richter, Kiefer and a strong selection of younger German artists. Allow at least three hours; the small café in the courtyard is good for a break. Tuesday through Sunday 10am to 6pm, Thursdays until 9pm. Closed Mondays.

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A story
The 2012 underground extension by Schneider+Schumacher buried 3,000 square metres of new gallery space below the museum's garden — and lit it with 195 circular skylights that, from above, make the lawn look like a 19th-century formal garden seen through enormous water droplets. From below, the diffuse light hitting the contemporary art is among the best in any museum in Europe.