MKK Guide: Dortmund's Art and Cultural History Museum

Most Dortmund guidebooks still describe the MKK as the place to see the city's art and cultural history in one sweep. That description is out of date. The museum is being redesigned from the inside, and the permanent display is closed while the work goes on. The building has not gone dark, though, and for the right visitor it still has something to offer.

What has changed

Before the redevelopment, the museum was a broad survey: regional art, applied arts, local history and a long timeline that ran from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. The city has decided to rethink that format rather than simply refresh it, which is why the permanent collection is unavailable. Treat any older write-up of its rooms as history, not as a plan.

The programme that remains revolves around temporary exhibitions and a space called STADT_RAUM, which looks at the city itself. The main special show announced for the year takes consumption as its theme. We have not seen it, so we cannot say how well it works, but a topical show on an everyday subject is a sensible way for a civic museum to stay in touch with its audience while the galleries are rebuilt.

How to decide whether to go

Start with the museum's own programme page and ask a blunt question: does the current exhibition interest you on its own terms? If yes, go, because the building sits comfortably inside a central walk. If you were mainly hoping to see old Dortmund in objects, wait until the new permanent display opens, and spend the time elsewhere.

• Go if you like contemporary themes in a museum setting and have a free hour while walking through the centre.
• Go if you are interested in how a German city rethinks its own museum.
• Skip if you are travelling a long way specifically for the collection, or if you are visiting with young children who need something hands-on.

Where it sits in the centre

The museum stands on Hansastrasse, a short walk from the Hauptbahnhof and close to the pedestrian core. That makes it one of the easiest museums in the city to slot into an afternoon of other things. After a visit you can walk to Reinoldikirche, the Gothic church whose tall tower anchors the old centre, and then on to Alter Markt, the old market square just beside it. Our city centre guide shows how those pieces fit together on foot.

If you are visiting for shopping, the museum is also a handy shelter between stretches of Westenhellweg and the surrounding streets, particularly on a wet day, when the main pedestrian axis loses much of its appeal.

A better use of the museum slot

If the special exhibition does not appeal, you lose very little. The art museum role is currently filled well by Museum Ostwall in the Dortmunder U, which is a short ride or walk from here and offers a far more complete picture of modern art. For local history, the company-focused Hoesch Museum tells a narrower but more concrete story, and it costs nothing to enter.

Why we keep this page short on detail

This is one of the entries in our Dortmund coverage that needs checking before you travel more than any other. The museum's situation has changed once and will change again when the new permanent display is ready, and anything we wrote about specific rooms would date quickly. What will stay true is the location, the civic character of the institution and the fact that it has a long tradition of collecting for the city.

When the redesigned galleries open, the museum will probably move from the margins of a Dortmund trip back towards its centre, and we will revisit this page then. Until that happens, think of the MKK as an optional extra: a decent stop if the programme fits your interests, and nothing to rearrange your trip around.