In terms of time, the collection includes works from the post-war period to the present day and reflects important artistic developments. The thematic focus is on figurative art under the motto “Bilder vom Menschen”, later expanded to include “Berliner Stadtbilder”.
At the centre of the Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank, which experienced its strongest growth in the 1980s and 1990s, are artists from Berlin and Brandenburg. From the 1980s, numerous works originated from the art centres of Leipzig and Dresden in the GDR. After reunification, the merging of the art collections of the merged Berliner Volksbank eG with GrundkreditBank – Köpenicker Bank and its art collections, artists from East and West are now equally represented.
In addition, the collection contains a larger group of works by Gerhard Altenbourg from Thuringia and has outstanding prints from his oeuvre. Another representative selection of important works comes from the Berlin painter Harald Metzkes.
In addition to the Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank, the Stiftung KUNSTFORUM der Berliner Volksbank gGmbH has another collection which, due to the profile of the collection, is not part of the core collection. It contains, among other things, the large part of an artistic estate that was transferred to the Stiftung KUNSTFORUM in 2008, as well as other works.
The importance of the Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank in the museum landscape is reflected in the continuous interest in lending works from the collection for exhibitions.