Gutenberg Museum

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Schellbau of the Gutenberg Museum from 1962, in 2007
Old building on the Roman Emperor of the Gutenberg Museum

The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz is one of the oldest printing and writing museums in the world. Its main attractions are several editions of the Gutenberg Bible , the oldest book printed with movable type, and a temporary exhibition on typography and book design. The museum is opposite the cathedral in the old town of Mainz . Annette Ludwig has been director since 2010 . In June 2020, after two years of deliberations, a commission appointed by the city recommended tearing down the museum in need of renovation and replacing it with a new building at the previous location, whereby the sponsorship of the museum should also be transferred from the city of Mainz to a foundation.

history

Citizens of the city founded the museum in 1900 on the occasion of Johannes Gutenberg's 500th birthday , in order to make his inventions and works of art known to a wide audience. Furthermore, documents and printed matter should be exhibited from as many different cultures as possible. The opening of the museum took place on June 23, 1901.

The collection is based on books and machines donated by publishers, printing press manufacturers and printing companies. In its early years, the museum was part of the Mainz City Library , so important items from the library were exhibited in the museum. Visitors were now able to gain an overview of 500 years of book printing . Over time, the museum collected exhibits in the fields of printing technology, typography, art print, paper, the history of writing in different cultures, etc.

The museum was originally located in two rooms in the Electoral Palace in Mainz , which also housed the city library. In 1912 the museum moved to the new library building on Rheinallee. In 1925 thought was given to separating the museum and the city library.

In the same year, one of the museum's greatest attractions was installed: a reconstruction of Johannes Gutenberg's workshop. In 1926 a copy of the 42-line Gutenberg Bible was acquired. The following year, the museum moved to the premises of the House of the Roman Emperor . Five years later, in 1932, the museum took over the whole house. During the Second World War , the building was destroyed in bombing by the Allies , but most of the exhibits were saved.

In 1962, the restoration of the building was completed and the new building built under the architect Rainer Schell was opened. The Blanckertz collection was also acquired. The museum ensemble now houses the collection, the museum administration, the Gutenberg Society, the Mainz mini press archive , a restoration department and a specialist library.

Facsimile of a page of the Gutenberg Bible, printed and hand-colored as a souvenir on the replica of the original press
Breve Pope Leo X., written by Ludovico degli Arrighi in 1513

In 1978, the two-volume Gutenberg Bible, the museum's most valuable exhibit today, was acquired in New York.

The museum was completely renovated in 2000 after a two-year construction period based on plans by the Karlsruhe office rossmann + partner architects, including a second extension. The main building with 2,400 square meters was expanded by a further 600 m² on Seilergasse. In a planning competition for the expansion of the museum, three architectural designs were shortlisted in 2016, with the aim of converting and expanding the museum into a Gutenberg district . On April 15, 2018, the first referendum in the history of the city of Mainz decided on the construction of the winning design by a Hamburg architecture firm, known as the Bibelturm . The proposal was rejected by 77.3 percent of the votes cast, and the turnout was around 40 percent.

Exhibitions

The typography temporary exhibitions On Type Texts for Typography (2011), Moving Types (2011) and Call for Type (2012) received nationwide attention .

See also

literature

  • Hans Adolf Halbey, Elke Schutt-Kehm, Rolf Stümpel: Book culture from Mainz. Font printing book in the Gutenberg Museum. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-0823-X .
  • Anton Maria Keim : More than two “monuments”. Ninety years of the World Museum of Printing and International Gutenberg Society Mainz. Verlag der Gutenberg-Gesellschaft, Mainz 1991, ISBN 3-7755-2109-7 ( small print of the Gutenberg-Gesellschaft 109), (German version also in: Imprimatur. NF 14, 1991, ISSN  0073-5620 , pp. 83-108 ).

Web links

Commons : Gutenberg Museum Mainz  - Collection of pictures

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mainz Gutenberg Museum to make way for the new building , deutschlandfunkkultur.de, published and accessed on June 26, 2020.
  2. ↑ Michael Bermeitinger: Flowerbeds as a reserve area in: Mainzer Allgemeine Zeitung of March 16, 2016, p. 14.
  3. ↑ The Gutenberg Quarter as a destination in FAZ of February 23, 2016, page 46.
  4. ↑ Information on the draft extension on dfz-architekten.de
  5. ↑ Voting procedure for the referendum on April 15, 2018 ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the website of the city of Mainz. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mainz.de
  6. ↑ SWR Aktuell: Mainz people clearly vote against "Bibelturm" . In: swr.online . April 15, 2018 ( swr.de [accessed April 15, 2018]).

Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 59 "  N , 8 ° 16 ′ 31"  E