Maximilian Museum

The Maximilian Museum lies in the heart of Augsburg’s lively pedestrian zone between the Town Hall and St. Anne’s Church. It is housed in two 15/16th century upper middle class residences that were joined at the end of the 17th century. Three of the original ceiling frescoes have survived; important works of the artist Melchior Steidl. In 1856, one year after the opening of Augsburg’s oldest museum, King Maximilian II of Bavaria assumed patronage of the museum and granted it his name.

Today the Maximilian Museum is part of the Municipal Museums and Art Collections. Its more than 30 rooms contain sculpture, decorative art and items pertaining to Augsburg’s cultural heritage. Highlights in the collection include works from Augsburg gold- and silversmiths. Significant works in the sculpture collection include a statue of a female saint by Hans Multscher (ca. 1437) and Sebastian Loscher’s 1513 depiction of St. Sebastian as well as a “Fountain Lad” by Adriaen de Vries (ca. 1600) and several works from the early-baroque Augsburg sculptor Georg Petel. In 2000, in honor of the Adriaen de Vries Exhibition, the courtyard was topped with a glass roof and it now serves as a permanent, protected home for the original sculptures from Augsburg’s monumental fountains.