The oldest museum in Cologne is the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, located 400 meters from the cathedral. The first mention of this building relates to 1824, it was at that time the museum was formed, which served as a testament of Ferdinand Wallraf, Rector of the University of Cologne and the canon. He gave the city all his numerous collections, which included various ecclesiastical items subjected to forfeiture as a result of secularization. Only three years later became part of the collection is available to the general public.

Wallraf-Richartz Museum has a rich history in the length of almost two centuries, for all time of its existence, he had to replace four buildings. Last cube-shaped building was opened in 2001, he worked at his construction architect Oswald Unger. The museum includes 3, 5 thousand square meters allocated for the exhibition halls, it houses paintings and drawings, since the Middle Ages. 2001 brought the museum a priceless completion: collector from Switzerland Gerard Corbu presented his collection of impressionist paintings.

Among the collections of XIII-XVI centuries can be seen Wallraf collection of works, which took possession on altars in churches and monasteries, undergoing secularization. The most famous exhibits are the works of Stefan Lochner, as well as Albrecht Dürer and masters of the Cologne school. Exhibition of art XVI-XVII centuries is represented by visitors mainly paintings by Francois Boucher, Rubens Peter and other disciples of the Dutch school.

The number of items in the collection reaches 75 thousand charts, you can see a wide variety of miniatures on parchment, as well as sketches and drawings that cover the period from the Middle Ages to the XX century.