GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts Leipzig

Arts and crafts from antiquity to the present

The GRASSI Museum of Applied Arts, which originally opened in 1874 under the name ​“Leipzig Museum of Arts and Crafts”, is the second-oldest museum of artisanal works in Germany. Today it is one of the most prestigious of its kind in Europe. Its holdings comprise more than 90,000 items dating back to ancient times and consisting of the entire range of crafting materials. The collection focuses on textiles, ceramics and porcelain, furniture, glass, precious and non-precious metals, wood and stone sculptures, coins, medals, badges and Asian works.

In addition to presenting the development of the arts and crafts from its advent to the present day, the museum is especially devoted to documenting contemporary applied arts. The highlight of each exhibition year is the so-called ​“Grassimesse”, a trade fair in October at which selected artisans, designers, companies and universities of applied sciences throughout Europe present their latest works.

Since 1929, the ​“GRASSI” has operated from a building it now shares with the Leipzig Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Musical Instruments. Its wrought-iron frame construction was built between 1925 and 1929 in a consciously unpretentious style and features simple decorative, geometric elements borrowed from the world of Art Déco.