Art library of the Lindenau Museum

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The art library of the Lindenau Museum is part of the Lindenau Museum in Altenburg .

history

Art library of the Lindenau Museum in 1890

The beginning of the art library of the Lindenau Museum can be seen in the private library of Bernhard August von Lindenau . Lindenau's nephew, the linguist Hans Conon von der Gabelentz (1807–1874), dealt from 1837 to 1839 with the organization of the Lindenau private library, which at that time consisted mainly of books from personal purchase, inherited family property and parts of the astronomer's collection and supporter Lindenaus Franz Xaver von Zach (1754-1832) and parts from the collection of Duchess Marie Charlotte Amalia of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1751-1827).

The following topics are mentioned at this time:

In 1843 and 1844 Lindenau made trips to France and Italy , where he bought many works of art for his collection. For the first time, targeted book purchases in large quantities for the planned art library are documented here. During this trip he also made contact with many booksellers, antiquarians and agents in Germany, France and Italy.

In the following years 1845 and 1846 the museum building was built on the Polhof (the executive architect was Albert Geutebrück ). The building was planned as a location for the collection and a school, the "Institute for young people from the Altenburger Lande for free lessons in free hand drawing, in architectural drawing, in modeling and in the art of building". In this context, the art library assumed the role of deepening the observation of art in the museum and was used for teaching purposes in schools.

On January 4, 1848, teaching began in the building on the Polhof and the museum building was officially opened on April 1, 1848. The art library was currently located in the ground floor of the building and, according to the curator Julius Erdmann Dietrich (1808–1878), comprised 379 titles . In addition, there was a reference library for school operations in the dome of the attic. In 1851, an extension of two side wings on the ground floor followed, which made a separate exhibition of the art library possible and also offered space for a reading room. At this point in time and later, and until his death (1854), there were repeated entries in Lindenau's diary about further book purchases for the library.

In 1854 additional work followed, which in this case included the creation of a library room in the dome for the school by the builder Heinrich Schmidt. After Lindenau's death on May 21, 1854, the foundation fell to the Duchy of Saxony-Anhalt according to the will. The art library is mentioned in the first place in this testament as "initially a collection of books, copperplate engravings , lithographs etc. relating to art, technology and auxiliary sciences "

In the years from 1874 to 1876, the Lindenau Museum was built in its current appearance and position as the Ducal State Museum on the edge of the castle park (according to plans by Altenburg building officer Julius Roger Enger (1820–1890)). In 1876, the art library and the rest of the collection moved into the new building and reopened on July 11 of the same year.

From 1877 to 1879 the art library was systematically and alphabetically cataloged by Friedrich Köhler (1809–1885). He did not see the art library as a closed part of the collection, but as an open space for new acquisitions and expansions. This handwritten catalog "Library in the von Lindenau'schen Museum" from 1881 formed the basis for cataloging the art library up to 1951 and was continued in the same way until then.

In the 1920s, the museum lost its foundation assets due to inflation , which resulted in the school being closed. With the loss of school operations, the library lost a function that was still fundamental when it was founded: the teaching and teaching purpose for which it was designed according to Lindenau's school and museum concept.

It was not until 1933 to 1945 that new attempts were made to promote museum work beyond the museum collection. In the course of this, the Altenburger Kunstverein was revived and contemporary art was integrated into the collection. In addition, the donation of the graphics collection Hermann Anders Krüger (1871–1945), but also donations by Hermann Köhler, Oswin Mälzer and the von Throta family gave the first impulses for establishing a print collection at this time.

After 1945, Hanns-Conon von der Gabelentz (1892–1977) began a reorientation in the museum concept, which continues to serve as a guideline today. In addition to operating the museum, the museum began a targeted scientific development of the collection. The art library was now viewed as a separate and separate part of the collection, separate from the general museum library, and in 1951 Friedrich Köhler's old catalog was finally closed.

Since 1969, Ruth Gleisberg's museum library has been run and since then has increasingly developed into a specialist art library. In 1976, the graphic collection and the art library were separated from each other when the graphic collection was moved to a separate study room and since then have been regarded as separate and in the exhibition as equivalent parts of the collection (also to the other collections of the museum).

The extensive renovation work in the museum also resulted in the art library being relocated. Since 1994 it has been located at its current location on the upper floor of the museum and is permanently accessible to museum visitors.

In the years 1994 to 1997 the library was cataloged again for the PC program " Hida-Midas " and also included in the SWB ( Southwest German Library Association ). From 1999 to 2001, the content and scholarly cataloging of the art library was increasingly promoted. The results were presented in 2002 in the special exhibition "Sightings. The Bernhard August von Lindenaus Art Library after the Collection of its Holdings".

Systematics

  • A. Art
  • B. Art history (general reference works, publications on archaeological finds, attention to the art of antiquity, the Middle Ages and modern times, but less represented)
  • C. Architecture (practical and theoretical literature, treatment of the individual European countries)
  • D. Plastic
  • E. Ornamentation (e.g. ornament pattern books)
  • F. Drawing arts (application examples in construction and machine design drawings, practical and technical drawing)
  • G. Painting (again divided into practical and theoretical literature, artist monographs and rich illustrated books with copper engravings)
  • H. The art of engraving , woodcutting , lithography (addition to painting, practice and history of techniques, picture collections, costume representations)
  • I. Business studies , technology ("auxiliary sciences", craft-technology-oriented sector)
  • K. History and geography with their "auxiliary sciences" ("auxiliary sciences", large number of richly illustrated volumes, such as travel reports)
  • L. Encyclopedia , Mixed Scriptures ("auxiliary sciences")

Purchase of books

Lindenau's private library can be seen as the basis of the museum's art library, which presumably also contains books on art history. In addition to this material foundation, Lindenau's intellectual working basis and conception, which presupposes an interest in art and art history and a higher concept of learning, in which art is integrated, is also to be regarded as important. We can speak of an orderly structure of the art library since the 1840s. Over a period of 11 to 12 years, a quantity of around 2000 books was collected, which of course also resulted in gaps due to the short period of time (according to Roland Jäger , especially in architectural theory). Lindenau obtained his books from many sources. These include B.

  • Antiquarian bookshops , although it can be assumed that this was not the rule, as there were only a few books in the library before Lindenau's time and those could possibly come from his private library,
  • the retail book trade, in which large warehousing was far more common at the time of Lindenau than it is today,
  • Auctions and
  • Gifts.

When buying books, Lindenau paid very close attention to the profitability of his company, i.e. to the price, and he often secured himself through various expert opinions when buying books and never raised his first price bid, which strongly suggests that he is not less interested in collecting and more expensive specimens and the collecting itself was about, but about the purpose behind it. And that was the didactic one . Thanks to the frequent purchases of books in bookstores, the collection can now also provide an informative insight into the inventory of the book trade in the 19th century. Despite Lindenau's improbably rational and economical purchase planning, the book purchase must have devoured large amounts of money. Therefore, it should also be mentioned at this point that the foundation idea could only come about through the generous bequest of his "teacher, benefactor [s] and friend [es]" Franz Xaver von Zach.

Classification in the collection

In order to be able to understand the original status of the art library, one has to re-examine the concept of the facility that Lindenau was about to build. Not only in relation to art, but also to the zeitgeist of the 19th century in general, there is a strong reference to antiquity. Lindenau's idea of ​​a museum and school is based on older concepts, such as B. the Museion of Alexandria , which was a study facility under the roof of the museum and was famous and known for its library, among other things, the Platonic Academy can also be mentioned, which combined philosophy , science and art. This unity of elements and the " Enkyklios paideia " (general education) included in it can certainly be understood as the goal Lindenau strived for, because Lindenau's art education also had a certain claim to universality, in that it was intended to strengthen the spiritual sources, which in turn forms the basis of human existence. The library finds its place in this canon as because it represents the place where "the knowledge of time should be gathered".

In the process of learning and teaching, art is a mediator in that it symbolizes and exercises the connection between the useful and the beautiful and is thus able to refine the work of man.

For today's visitor, the art library appears rather inconspicuous and enigmatic. For Lindenau and his school principle, however, it played an elementary key position. The school should not only offer training to artists, but much more to technicians and craftsmen. Due to the task assigned to her, there is a coexistence of practice and theory in the art library, because it was both practiced and learned and what was learned deepened with the help of theory and art history. The high proportion of non-art-related literature in the system and in the inventory is directly explained by the demands placed on the library.

swell

  • Jäger, Roland: The art library. A collection of books initially related to art, technology and auxiliary sciences, in: Lindenau Museum (Ed.): 150 Years Lindenau Museum Altenburg [1848 - 1998; this Festschrift appears on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Lindenau Museum and the associated exhibition (April 19 to June 19, 1998)], Altenburg 1998, pp. 29–33.
  • Jena, Klaus (arrangement): The Bernhard August von Lindenaus art library (catalog), Altenburg 2002.
  • Jena, Klaus: The books and their place. Bernhard August von Lindenau's museum library as an art collection, Altenburg 2004.
  • Lau, Antonie: From Lindenau's art library. Drawings by Alexius Geyer and Eduard Ratti, Altenburg 2010.
  • Matuszak, Thomas: Art of the Second Hand. Bernhard August von Lindenau's collection of graphic reproduction sheets, Altenburg 2004.
  • Penndorf, Helmar: Lindenau library and graphic collection, in: Gleisberger, Ruth; Penndorf, Helmar; Penndorf, Jutta (ed.): Lindenau-Museum Altenburg, Munich 1986, pp. 116–123.
  • Penndorf, Jutta: Bernhard August von Lindenau and his art collections, Munich 1999, p. 17f.
  • Raabe, Paul (Ed.): Blaubuch 2006, Berlin 2006, pp. 197-201.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "[...] In 1837 Bernhard von Lindenau offered an apartment in the Pohlhof for the time of his further absence from Altenburg, his scientifically ambitious great-nephew Hans Conon von der Gabelnetz and his young family, if he was willing to not only look after the house there and to run the economy, but above all to take on the task of tidying up the mountains of books that are now towering in the Pohlhof. […] “, Jäger, 1998, p. 29.
  2. ↑ Jäger, 1998, p. 33, original: ThSta Altenburg, FamA, No. 23 (Testament BA von Lindenaus), p. 11A
  3. ↑ Jena, 2004, p. 24

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