The main collections of the Clemens Sels Museum are housed in two interconnected buildings. The juxtaposition of the12th century gate and mid 1970s architecture signify the spectrum of ancient and modern art within.

The museum possesses a variety of art and art history. Medieval paintings coexist alongside works by the Nazarenes, the Pre-Raphaelites and the French, Belgian and Dutch symbolists that are quite unique in Germany.

Besides graphic works, religious glass painting, naive and conceptual art, the museum’s historical artefacts reveal the city’s ancient history as a Roman military outpost.

The origins of local interest in art and tradition reach back to 1839 when the desire to preserve artefacts led to the foundation of the Neusser Heimat- und Geschichtsverein. Then in 1912, Pauline Sels, widow of Clemens Sels, a local industrialist and collector, donated monies as well as her husband’s collection to the town. The museum was born.