German Guardian Angel Museum
 Entrance area |
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| Data | |
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| place | Boards |
| Art |
Religious history museum
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| opening | November 2, 2007 |
| operator |
City of Bretten
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The German Guardian Angel Museum in Bretten shows an extensive collection of guardian angels from six centuries. It offers a broad religious-historical overview of the importance of guardian angels and similar protective beings in various religions of the world: from Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, Russian Orthodox Church) to Islam and from the pre-Christian religions of Europe to the faith of the Indians. The city of Bretten is responsible for the museum.
Stocks
The museum shows, among other things, paintings, woodcuts , copper and steel engravings from the 16th to 19th centuries with rare representations of guardian angels, numerous color lithographs and postcards with historical guardian angel motifs (19th and early 20th centuries), icon art, guardian angels made of porcelain, Cast iron and other materials as well as modern adaptations of the topic. An important topic of the presentation is the change in the representations of guardian angels in European art since the emergence of popular prints in the middle of the 19th century.
Special collections on the subject of confirmation and communion refer to the presence of the guardian angel motif in both major Christian denominations. Another special collection deals with the inclusion of the guardian angel motif in war propaganda during the First World War .
In addition to the presentation of guardian angels from the Christian area, in the sense of an interreligious comparison, pictures as well as statues, amulets and shrines made of different materials of protective beings from Hinduism , Buddhism , antiquity and the beliefs of the Indian culture (e.g. . the Hopi and the Iroquois ). References in Islamic art to the subject of personal angels or guardian angels are also the subject of the exhibition.
The collection is continually being expanded thematically. At the end of 2011, two additional showrooms were opened for guardian angel churches, guardian angel chapels, guardian angel communities and guardian angel festivals in Central Europe as well as guardian angels in literature and film.
Emergence
The museum was opened on October 2, 2007 (in the Catholic church calendar the "Day of the Holy Guardian Angels"). It is housed as a year-round permanent exhibition on the two upper floors of the City Museum in the Schweizer Hof (Engelsberg 9, Bretten).
The construction of the collection was made possible by financial support from the “Brettener Heimat- und Denkmalpflege citizens' initiative” as well as donations and permanent loans from the population. The collection also includes parts of the holdings acquired through purchase from the "German Guardian Angel Museum" Bad Wimpfen, which was dissolved in summer 2007 .
"Action Guardian Angel"
Since April 2008, as part of a cooperation with the international Catholic aid organization “missio”, the museum has presented their “Guardian Angel Campaign” in a separate room for the benefit of children at risk in developing countries. This is intended to refer to current and practical references to the subject of “guardian angels”.
See also
literature
- Peter Bahn: "German Guardian Angel Museum" opened in Bretten. In: This country. Baden and other things from the Rhine, Neckar and Main. Volume 23 (2008), No. 41, pp. 46-48.
- Peter Bahn: The "German Guardian Angel Museum" in Bretten. In: Badische Heimat. Journal for regional and folklore, nature, environmental and monument protection. Issue 4/2008 (December 2008), pp. 584-588.
- Peter Bahn: Guardian Angels, Guardian Spirits, Guardian Gods . The German Guardian Angel Museum in Bretten. Bretten 2012. ISBN 978-3-928029-57-5
- Birgit Fritz: Protective beings interreligious: in Bretten, supernatural protectors can be seen in the museum . - In: Konradsblatt. - 91. 2007, 44. p. 32f.
- Angelika Rothermel-Geiger: Where angels are at home. A visit to the Guardian Angel Museum in Bretten. In: Christian Digest. The family magazine. Issue December 08 / January 09, p. 52f.
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 2 ′ 14.6 " N , 8 ° 42 ′ 18.9" E