Stop: Universitätsstr.

Cologne has the oldest museum of East Asian art in the whole of Europe and the only one in Germany. Important areas of the collection include sacred bronzes, early ceramics, stone sculptures and porcelain from China, wooden sculptures, screens, lacquer art and woodblock prints from Japan, celadon and Buddhist paintings from Korea as well as modern Chinese painting and Japanese calligraphy. The museum building, which opened in 1977, is a highlight: it was designed by Kunio Maekawa, a student of Le Corbusier. With its strict, clearly structured cubes, it draws on old Japanese traditions, but at the same time develops a new, modern design language. The landscaped garden designed by Japanese sculptor Masayuki Nagare forms the center of the complex.