Hunsrück Museum Simmern
The Hunsrück Museum is the regional museum of the town of Simmern / Hunsrück in the Rhein-Hunsrück district . It is located in the New Castle in Simmern / Hunsrück and houses collections on urban and regional history, including a remarkable collection of fossils . The art collection of the painter Friedrich Karl Ströher is a specialty . Changing special exhibitions are offered on various topics of regional history and culture.
history
The Hunsrück Museum was founded in 1921 as a local museum. The foundation goes back to an appeal by the Hunsrück History Association . Due to the constant expansion of the museum under the direction of Karl Wagner, the museum moved from the Schinderhannesturm to the New Palace in 1930. Karl Wagner's successor was Helmut Hopstätter in 1939. The city of Simmern took over the sponsorship of the museum in 1963. In 1966 the presentation of the collections was redesigned as part of the castle renovation. The areas of landscape, soil history, prehistory and early history, regional history and folklore were exhibited. Museum director from 1978 to 1998 was Willi Wagner. Under his direction, the holdings were inventoried and new publications were issued in the museum's series of publications. In the course of the renewed castle renovation from 1992–2001, the museum was redesigned in 2000. Fritz Schellack has headed the Hunsrück Museum since 1998 and designed the new presentation of the collection.
exhibition
The current exhibition presents objects on the natural and cultural landscape, social and economic history, urban and regional history as well as the Hunsrück in film. The art collection of the Hunsrück painter Friedrich Karl Ströher (1876–1925) has been located in the attic of the New Palace since 1998. The exhibition “Reality and Myth of Schinderhannes” in the historic Schinderhannesturm in Simmern is affiliated with the Hunsrück Museum. Johannes Bückler , the "Schinderhannes" was imprisoned in 1799 in the former tower prison . After half a year he managed a spectacular escape. A hat, a pistol and a powder bag can be seen as original objects from the period, supplemented by information about the real face of the robber. The museum's previous collection of agricultural and handicraft equipment is now housed in the Museum of Cultural History in Neuerkirch .
Collections
After the museum was founded in 1921, the first objects in the collection were documents, finds, tools, furniture and coins. After the war ended in 1945 valuable parts of the collection were lost. The town history of Simmern as the former residence of the Dukes of Simmern is documented with objects from the court printing house of Duke Johann II , from the Simmern Mint and with finds from the princely crypt in St. Stephen's Church. The folklore department includes a clothing and hood collection. In addition, handicrafts, furniture and household items provide insights into rural living culture since the 18th century. The traditional sections of the museum include the prehistoric and early historical collections as well as numerous finds from Roman times. From the Stone Age to the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, the partly artfully manufactured objects and grave goods attest to the settlement history of the region.
Film series Heimat
Props from Edgar Reitz's Heimat seasons 1–3 as well as documents on film history form the basis of the department on Hunsrück film history that has existed since 2001.
Art collection Friedrich Karl Ströher
The almost complete life's work of the Irmenach painter Friedrich Karl Ströher (1876–1925) is exhibited in changing presentations in the attic of the castle. The works include sketches from his student days at the Académie Colarossi in Paris, oil paintings from a trip through Spain and France, works from his student days in Berlin with Arthur Kampf and expressionistic watercolors from the last years of the painter's life.
geology
The Hunsrück Museum has a rich collection of fossils that document the geological development of the Hunsrück in the Devonian period (approx. 380 million years ago). At that time the Hunsrück was covered by a sea and there was a tropical climate. Petrifications and fossils from the Hunsrück schist document this geological development.
Library and Archives
The Hunsrück Museum has a newspaper archive for the Hunsrück newspaper since around 1850 and a library with specialist books on the region. The museum also houses the photo archive of the city and the Simmern community.
Selected objects
Friedrich Karl Ströher 1920
"Father in a blue jacket"
Roman glaze from Kümbdchen -Niederkumbd
literature
- Willi Wagner: Guide through the Hunsrück Museum in Simmern, series of publications by the Hunsrück Museum in Simmern / Hunsrück, Böhmer-Betriebs-GmbH, Simmern / Hunsrück 1985