During World War II, the building which housed the Wallraf collection in Cologne was destroyed by air raids. Built in 1860, the building housed collections from prehistoric to
modern times. The collection Wallraf made it into an important gallery of West Germany. Already in 1950, Rudolf Schwarz made proposals for the reconstruction of
the museum, which should be reopened only as a picture gallery. His proposal adopts the basic measurements of the old building, and arranges a four-storey building
along the former cloister, which is transformed into a courtyard. In 1951, the city of Cologne announced a limited competition among six architects for the Museum.
The competition design by Rudolf Schwarz and Josef Bernard retains the basic concept of the 1950 proposal, developing it even further. To the left of the entrance
are located a lecture hall and the wardrobe, while the library is to be found on the opposite side. The administration is housed on the mezzanine. Al these areas of the museum
are arranged in a way, that they can be used also when the museu is closed. The entrance hall, with a large podium under which is located  the cafe, stretches to
the main hall, which is thought as the center of the museum. Two wide stairs connect the podium with the hall. Between them is located the long single flight staircase,
which gives acces to the exhibition floors. These museum rooms are adapted in size to the exhibits of the museum, which are mostly of small in size. Already the competition
design showed the intention of a building in brick masonry. The main elevation to the north was envisioned with a continuous gable roof whose ridge runs parallel to the road.
The facade is structured by wall pillars, getting narrower storey by storey. The top floor has no windows, the rooms behind were planned as exhibition halls with light from above.
The east and west sides have six front gables each. The competition design by Rudolf Schwarz and Josef Bernard was unanimously awarded the first prize and
the recommendation for the realization.

The realized building shows an entrance area which is even more clearly structured than the competition project. To the right of the entrance are arranged
the access to the library, ticket office, and sales departement. This is followed in the west wing by the collection of engravings, having a gallery as does
the library have. The area next to the inner courtyard is intended for exhibitions of graphic art. The wardrobe is located to the left and is used as a vestibule
of the lecture hall as well. This lecture hall is located in the east wing and has a second entrance, which is made by some steps from the Great Hall.
The administrative offices are located on a mezzanine and oriented to the north. From the level of the entrance area, which extends into the central hall,
a wide staircase gives access to this central hall which is glazed to the courtyard. The high space of the central hall is structured by five square pillars and features
a ribbed ceiling. A long single-flight staircase with three podiums runs along the wall and gives acces to the main floor of the gallery. Completely enclosed rooms
with skylights alternate with sidelight rooms and small cabinets. A spiral staircase gives access to the top floor with additional exhibition rooms.

The building structure shows a cross-wall construction in east-west direction, made of brick masonry which remains unplastered on the outside.
Every second gable on the east and on the west facade is designed as a skylight. The intermediate gables contain the technical vent installations. The façade
surfaces, behind which are located the skylight rooms remain closed on the outside. The parapets of the windows are made of massive limestone slabs.
On the facade of the inner courtyard the exhibition floors are protruding and form a large bay windwo in the central area. In the eighties, the museum collection
was transferred to a new building. After modifications the building was reopened as Museum of Applied Art.