[b][19][20] In 1878, a new museum building, in the Neo-Renaissance style,[21] was erected by Oskar Sommer [de] on Schaumainkai, a street along the south side of the river Main.

There, the museum's paintings and library were discovered by Lt. Thomas Carr Howe, USN, of the American Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program.

[24] The gallery was substantially damaged by air raids in World War II, it was rebuilt in 1966 following a design by the Frankfurt architect Johannes Krahn.

[28] The largest extension in the history of the museum to 7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft) intended for the presentation of contemporary art was designed by the Frankfurt architectural firm Schneider+Schumacher [de] and opened in February 2012.

From March the museum will offer to visitors a new Städel app, the possibility of listening to audio guides on their own devices, and a new 'cabinet of digital curiosities'.

[33][34] The Städel Museum made more than 22,000 works in its Digital Collection available for free downloading under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-SA 4.0.