German fairy tale and Weser saga museum
 Museum building |
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place | Bad Oeynhausen |
| Art | |
| opening | 1973 |
| Website | |
| ISIL | DE-MUS-008915 |
The German Fairy Tale and Weser Legends Museum is located in the Villa Paul Baehr, a splendid Art Nouveau villa in the spa gardens of Bad Oeynhausen . Originating from the private foundation of folklorist and writer Karl Paetow , who died in 1992 , the museum offers insights into the wide field of old folk tales and is primarily concerned with the visual implementation of fairy tale and legend motifs . It shows illustrations of the famous children's and house fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm , those in the Weserbergland have found many of their fairy tale materials, as well as other fairy tale collectors and storytellers, as well as pictorial implementations by current artists that go far beyond illustration.
History of the museum and the collection
In 1973 the art historian and writer Karl Paetow (1903-1992) donated his private collection of fairy tales and legends to the city of Bad Oeynhausen , which was opened in the same year in the ground floor rooms of the Paul-Baehr-Villa, Am Kurpark 3, in Bad Oeynhausen. It includes a large inventory of fairy tale books, numerous fairy tale and legend illustrations in the form of original graphics and print reproductions as well as fairy tale characters and objects related to fairy tales and legends . The collector himself ran the museum on a voluntary basis until 1981. In 1982 a full-time scientific department was set up, which has since looked after the two municipal museums, the fairy tale museum and the museum courtyard of the city of Bad Oeynhausen. Plans made in the 1980s to expand the fairy tale museum into an international fairy tale center were put aside again in the 1990s. Since the early 1980s, the museum's collections have been supplemented by acquisitions and donations, particularly in the graphic area. The museum's founder brought numerous sheets with mythological scenes, pictures on legends of classical antiquity or on folk tale characters such as Till Eulenspiegel , Münchhausen , Pied Piper , Rübezahl and Widukind to the collection. Later the pictorial representation of narrative situations was added as a collecting area. Paetow's approach of wanting to create a museum for the living transmission of fairy tales has also been acquired since the 1990s by unique books, hand press prints and other current works by artists on fairy tales, myths and legends, as every artistic examination of the topic means time and again a reinterpretation of the old stories. In the area of popular mass-produced goods, the museum has an extensive collection of postcards, as well as board games and toys, sound carriers and slide series, school murals, photo albums, postage stamps and posters. Textiles, porcelain figurines, collection plate series and children's dishes with fairy tale motifs, etc. complement the collection spectrum. In 1978, Karl Paetow and the businessman Walter Frei founded the “Sponsorship Association of the German Fairy Tale and Weser Sage Museum” to support museum work. For many years, the association has not only financed purchases for the collections, but also all museum events.
Management of the museum
- 1973–1981: Karl Paetow (honorary)
- 1982–1991: Gerhard Seib (full-time)
- since 1992: Hanna Dose (full-time)
Library
The museum has a well-stocked reference library with around 16,000 volumes of fairy tales from around the world in German-language editions, legends from German-speaking countries and literature on the history of the city and the country. The inventory is supplemented by reference works on the subject and specialist journals.
Others
The German Fairy Tale and Weser Legends Museum Bad Oeynhausen offers a wide range of events with storytelling hours, readings, lectures, guided tours, workshops, etc. Since its opening, the museum has been inviting young and old to a fairy tale telling hour every 1st Friday of the month at 4 p.m. . Groups of all ages (from 5 years) can book a storytelling hour by prior arrangement. The highlight of the calendar of events are the fairy tale days, which have been held annually at the end of October since 1993. Each year, the museum also shows three special exhibitions on cultural-historical topics relating to fairy tales, myths and legends or exhibitions with works by artists on the subject. Cooperations with artist associations, collectors etc. a. m. belong to. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Bad Oeynhausen State Baths in 1998, students at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences created fairytale and imaginative costumes. A specific reference to fairy tale characters should be avoided. In cooperation with the art educators at the local grammar school, there were several collaborations for fairytale art projects.
See also
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 12 ′ 13 ″ N , 8 ° 47 ′ 45 ″ E