The Kunstmuseum Bern owns one of the most important art collections in Switzerland. Since the foundation of the Staatliche Kunstsammlung in Bern in 1809 and the opening of the first museum building in 1879 the collection has grown continuously and has attained world renown. Over 170 masterpieces of the collection are assembled in a single publication for the first time and made accessible to a broad public through new art-historical analyses and numerous colour illustrations. The Kunstmuseum Bern houses prestigious works of Swiss and international art from the late thirteenth century until the present day. The collection contains over 3,000 paintings and sculptures and 48,000 works on paper and videos, including, for example, masterpieces by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Paul Cezanne, Salvador Dali, Ferdinand Hodler, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Paul Klee, Franz Marc, Henri Matisse, Meret Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso and Felix Vallotton. The works assembled in this volume are presented with full-page illustrations and are re-examined by some 70 international authors. A historical survey describing the development of the museum and its collection opens and introduces the publication.