ABSTRACT
Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart – all three cities have museums with sculpture from Gandhāra, but the history and size of these collections differ considerably. With the Western rediscovery of Gandhāra which started in the first half of the nineteenth century, artefacts from that region were put on display in Europe. In the same period, the former royal collections were transformed into public exhibitions. Museums were built, and collections started growing mostly due to travellers and explorers who donated or sold their private treasuries collected during their journeys. In the beginning, Gandhāran sculptures were part of ethnological collections. Some still are, and only the Indian Department of the Asian Art Museum, Berlin, became totally independent from ethology. This chapter will present a survey of German museum collections and their history and will discuss potential future developments.
