The Staatliches Museum Schwerin represents the artistic memory and foundation for the cultural identity of the Federal State (Land) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It reflects the history of the land extending back more than 1,000 years, with treasures of international renown from antiquity to the present day on display there. As an official institution, it belongs to the Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten and Kunstsammlungen of the Federal State (Land) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The heart of the stock of artistic items can be traced back to Mecklenburg’s ducal collection, which originally served to represent the princely powers at that time. This representational aspect now only occurs to a partial extent. Today, the museum’s activities consists of academic and artistic research, as well as safeguarding and exhibiting the artworks – in fulfilment of the museum’s official responsibility to promote cultural education.

A piece of art only becomes consummate on being viewed. For which reason, our mission consists of attracting as many people as possible to and guiding them through the artworks on display here, in order on the one hand to consummate art, while bringing the visitors in contact with the intrinsic power of art on the other hand. Thus it is also our task to provide and facilitate access to an understanding of art for all sections of society in line with their specific knowledge and needs.

Each year, about 490000 visitors come to the collections and exhibitions in the Staatliche Schlösser, Gärten and Kunstsammlungen of the Federal State (Land) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Doing so, not only are they affirming their interest in the art and culture of the land, but also the great importance of art itself.
Together with the Baltic Sea and the regional scenery, its art and culture represent the hallmark of the Federal State (Land) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Duke Christian Ludwig II loved art, collecting and buying it where it was booming during his lifetime: in Holland and Flanders. Thus the heart of our stock of paintings consists of an exquisite collection of Dutch and Flemish works from the so-called "Golden Age". Famous masters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder, Paulus Potter, Frans van Mieris the Elder, Frans Hals, Peter Paul Rubens and Carel Fabritius permit us to have highly varied insights into life in the 17th century and attest to the high painting culture at that time.

Some of the eminent pieces in the collection from the 18th and 19th centuries consist of works by the French animal painter Oudry, who painted especially for the Versailles and Marly castles, together with works from artistic centres such as in Berlin or Dresden, from Antoine Pesne and Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich among others.
In a cabinet room on the first floor, Baroque art pieces made of ivory are on display.

A glass bridge connects the original building from 1882 with the new building opened in 2016 – both architecturally and contextually: In the old and new buildings, the developments in art from the early 20th century through to those from our contemporaries can be experienced in their complexity: With earlier works from Lovis Corinth, Lyonel Feininger, Marcel Duchamp, Nam June Paik, Bernhard Heisig and Sigmar Polke among others taking the visitors through the contemporary installations, videos and objects in the old building. While in the new building, these are represented by Ulrike Rosenbach, Aernout Mik and Jörg Herold among others. One spectacular exhibition here consists of the collection by the artist Günther Uecker, who was born in 1930 in in Mecklenburg.