The Old Pinakothek is one of the world's oldest and most well-known art galleries. Its collection amounts to 9000 paintings by 1400 European painters from the Middle Ages until the year 1750. The permanent exhibition of the art gallery includes 700 paintings.At the beginning of the 16th century, Duke Wilhelm IV laid the foundation for the collection. He took a decision to beautify the summer pavilion of his Munich Residence with paintings and commissioned historical art by notable German painters of the time.During the course of the 16-19th centuries, Electors of Bavaria enriched the collection of paintings by German, Dutch, Flemish, and French painters.The final stage in the creation of the Old Pinakothek in Munich began in the first half of the nineteenth century under King Ludwig I. The king personally acquired paintings by Italian artists of the Renaissance.In the years 1826-1836 the art gallery’s main building was constructed. Paintings were located in strict chronological order according to artistic schools. In numerous halls of the art gallery, no other works of art could be seen except paintings. On Sundays the admission to the art gallery was free. Initially, the residents of the city preferred to picnic on the lawns in front of the art gallery, but as time went on the public become receptive to the offer, given the opportunity to see beautiful paintings featured in the exposition. A tokenistic fee for a Sunday visit to the Old Pinakothek at the cost of one euro has been charged since recently.In the World War Two many museums in Munich were destroyed by the Anglo-American air force. The paintings, however, escaped unscathed as they were put away safely. The ruined Old Pinakothek was reconstructed, and its first halls were re-opened to the public as early as 1963.All the paintings of the Old Pinakothek are divided into topics as follows:1. German paintings of the 14-17th centuries2. Dutch paintings of the 14-17th centuries3. Flemish paintings of the 14-17th centuries4. Italian paintings of the 13-17th centuries5. French paintings of the 17-18th centuries6. Spanish paintings of the 17-18th centuries.

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