East Frisian State Museum Emden
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place | Emden |
| Art |
Cultural history, regional history
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| architect | Bernhard Wessel (City Hall building from 1962), Roger Ahrens and Gesche Grabenhorst (redesign 2003-2005) |
| opening | 1962 |
| Number of visitors (annually) | 42,000 |
| operator |
City of Emden and the Society for Fine Arts and Patriotic Antiquities in Emden
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| management |
Wolfgang Jahn
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| Website | |
| ISIL | DE-MUS-040513 |
The Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden is the art, culture and regional history museum of the East Frisia region. In its permanent exhibition on the art and history of the city of Emden, East Frisia and its integration into European cultural history, around 4% of the over 50,000 objects in the total inventory are shown. In addition, special exhibitions on various art and cultural-historical topics are regularly presented, which are accompanied by the publication of specialist catalogs. The sponsors of the museum are the city of Emden and the " Society for Fine Arts and Patriotic Antiquities of Emden since 1820 " (in short: KUNST in 1820).
Mission statement
The museum sees itself as a European regional museum that is as comprehensive and interdisciplinary as possible and is dedicated to the history of art and culture and, as the driving force behind urban, regional and national culture, promotes regional identity.
history
On March 26, 1820, six citizens of Emden founded the "Society for Fine Art and Patriotic Antiquities of Emden" in order to preserve and exhibit art treasures from private households for the city. The background to this was the long-running sell-off of East Frisian cultural assets to other regions. In 1832/1833 the association acquired a building in Kirchstrasse and set up a public art and regional history library there. In 1869 the company bought a town house on Grosse Strasse, where the exhibits were permanently on display for the first time. This laid the foundation stone for what will later become the State Museum, which is the oldest museum facility in East Frisia. As early as 1877, the building received an extension to show additional objects.
In 1934 the museum was given its current name. Almost the entire inventory could be saved through outsourcing during the Second World War. In 1962 the holdings of the “Society for Fine Arts and Patriotic Antiquities zu emden since 1820.” were combined with those of the city of Emden and have since been exhibited in the newly built town hall on Delft . Despite retaining the name, this should no longer serve as an administration building, but as a cultural site.
The museum remained closed from 2003 and 2005 and was fundamentally rebuilt during this time, as the exhibition's spatial, content and design presentation required a revision. The redesign cost more than eight million euros. On September 6, 2005, Emden celebrated its reopening under the current name "Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden" with a newly designed permanent exhibition.
Collections
The focus of the collections is on the art and cultural history of Emden and East Frisia as well as their international, especially European, relationships. The holdings contain more than 50,000 objects.
Most of them come from the collection of "1820 die KUNST". These include paintings by Dutch artists from the 16th to 18th centuries. Century and East Frisian / North German artist of the 19th and 20th centuries as well as prints, graphics, city maps, maps and sea maps of Emden, East Frisia and the neighboring Netherlands. The “Foundation for Fine Art and Culture in the German-Dutch Ems-Dollart Region” (“StibiKu” for short) established in November 2011 provides the legal and organizational framework for further acquisitions of works by contemporary northwest German artists.
Also sculptures of predominantly pre-Reformation church art, the coin and silver collection and a collection of everyday objects from the 19th and 20th centuries from bequests and donations were included in the KUNST inventory through 1820. The archaeological section contains both everyday objects and architectural remains from early settlement to the early modern period. The bog body " Mann von Bernuthsfeld " and the associated finds are also part of this collection, but have been presented since 2016 in a specially set up exhibition room.
From the stock of the city come u. a. the council treasure of the city of Emden, the objects of the Emden armory and the stained glass windows of the historic Renaissance town hall with justice motifs and depictions of historical and biblical personalities.
Permanent exhibition
Around 2800 exhibits are shown in the permanent exhibition. Changing special exhibitions on various topics complete the offer. The exhibition area extends over 2880 m² on five floors and is divided into ten themed complexes. The historical collections are supplemented by exhibition areas up to the present day and the interplay between the center and the periphery that has characterized Emden and East Friesland in the course of history should be brought into focus.
Coast & Cartography
On the ground floor there is the exhibition “Coast and Cartography” with the first usable sea and map maps of the Frisian North Sea coast from after 1500. In the second half of the 16th century, East Frisia became one of the most frequently mapped landscapes in Germany. One of the main reasons for the interest in the geography of the area was the political constellation in the Netherlands. There, cartographers were commissioned to collect information about the until then relatively unknown German northwest. Part of the museum's map inventory has been prepared using multimedia so that visitors can navigate, enlarge, reduce and call up additional explanations.
The area is complemented by a room dedicated to Ubbo Emmius and David Fabricius . The two scholars charted late 16th century Ostfriesland with the developed West Friesland method of triangulation ( triangulation ).
Early life on the coast
Evidence of human settlement in the area of the southern North Sea coast since the late Stone Age is shown on the first floor.
As the sea retreated northward, it had left fertile land: the marshes. Pasture farming in this largest natural pasture area in Western Europe was the basis of life for the Frisians. The first human traces already show the importation of materials such as flint, precious and base metals, tuff and ceramics.
In addition to the archaeological finds, a surrounding diorama takes up a large part of the exhibition space. There, the examination of water, as it has always shaped the cultural landscape of East Frisia, is discussed. The individual scenes lead the museum visitor chronologically from the beginning of the dyke construction to setbacks caused by the great storm surges to the coastal protection and the drainage of the present. It is worth mentioning that the height of the installation of the diorama at 8.60 m above street level corresponds exactly to the height of the dike in 2005. The idea behind it was the attempt to give the impression of a view from the top of the dike.
Baptism and death, justice and freedom
Starting with the Christianization, the church history of East Frisia is told in a further section of the first floor. In addition, the Frisian freedom and the history of the chiefs and the glories form a focus. In addition to pieces of medieval sacred art, this part of the exhibition also includes symbols of East Frisian rule and autonomy.
The bog body "Mann von Bernuthsfeld"
The 1200 year old bog body from Bernuthsfeld (district of Aurich) is the most important exhibit in the archaeological collection of the East Frisian State Museum in Emden. Originally part of the “Early Life on the Coast” exhibition, the bog body is now presented in a separate exhibition on the 1st floor together with other finds in the historical context of its time.
The corpse was discovered by chance while cutting peat in 1907. In addition to the man's skeleton and head of hair, his clothes, a leather strap and a leather knife sheath were also recovered. The dead man was literally buried in the middle of the moor in a rectangular pit padded with moss. The fully clothed corpse was wrapped in a blanket and laid on its side on a moss cushion with its limbs slightly bent.
The man from Bernuthsfeld wore a long-sleeved shirt that reached to the knee and was sewn together from individual pieces of fabric. The legs were wrapped in long, narrow woolen bandages, and a short hooded cloak was around the shoulders. All clothing is predominantly woven from sheep's wool. They represent a unique example of early medieval textile art for East Frisia and all of North Germany.
As part of the current bog body research, Bernuthsfeld's bog body is to be reconstructed in three dimensions in order to obtain a lifelike image of the man.
Emden
On the second floor, the history of the city of Emden is shown, which in the 16th century temporarily developed into a port city of European standing. The decisive economic upswing began when thousands of refugees sought refuge in the city for religious and economic reasons during the Dutch War of Independence and settled - in some cases permanently - in Emden. The city expanded far beyond its old settlement core. In addition to the development of the city, the Reformation and the high standard of living of the citizens in the 16th century are the focus of the exhibition.
The suppression of religious tolerance by a strict Calvinism in the city led to a conflict with the Lutheran Count House and finally to the "Emden Revolution" (Link) in March 1595. In addition, the growing wealth and civic pride, which were expressed in 1574– 76 built town hall on Delft was one of the reasons for the quasi-autonomy as a city republic until the beginning of Prussian rule in 1744.
Other parts of the exhibition are a silver and a coin cabinet. As early as the 15th century, numerous goldsmiths and silversmiths in East and West Friesland testified with their work the wealth of the population, who gladly and openly displayed it. Valuable jewelry and also the council silver of the city of Emden with its magnificent goblets represent the highly developed handicrafts of the region. Emden is mentioned as a mint very early, as early as the middle of the 11th century. A focus of the presentation are those coins that were created under their own sovereignty: the so-called "MONETA NOVA EMBDENSIS" of the 17th century.
In addition, the stained glass windows of the Renaissance town hall are shown together with large-format paintings in an exhibition section with "Justice Pictures". With the help of allegorical, historical and biblical figures and scenes, they show exemplary examples of just and wise rule. Donated by the councilors themselves and originally part of the furnishings of the council chamber (council chamber) and the secretary chamber (conference room), positive or negative examples were intended to exhort the city fathers to act correctly.
Picture gallery
The Netherlands experienced an extraordinary cultural flowering around the 17th century , which also shaped artistic creation in the neighboring East Frisia. With the influx of religious refugees from the Netherlands in the second half of the 16th century, numerous artists came who settled temporarily or permanently, mainly in Emden. The close connection to the neighbors continued in the period that followed. One orientated oneself on the there valid art ideals. Some painters moved there entirely, such as Ludolf Backhuysen (1630 or 1631–1708), Marten Boelema de Stomme (1611 - after 1644) or Thomes Heeremans (1641–1694), who was born in Emden in 1630. The majority come from East Frisian private property. Dutch painting and its thematic variety are shown in the picture gallery. Portraits, still lifes, seascapes, everyday scenes and biblical and secular history motifs can be seen.
Calendar
The calendar on the third floor contains documents and objects on the recent history of Emden since 1800. On the third floor, both major historical events and stories from everyday life are told on 244 drawing boards. The calendar should also offer an outlook on current political, economic and social developments in the 21st century.
New gallery
The new gallery has also been located on the third floor of the town hall in Delft since 2012, in which works of fine art in East Friesland from the 20th and 21st centuries can be seen. The basis of the holdings is the extensive Walter Baumfalk collection brought to the State Museum with the help of the “Foundation for Fine Art and Culture in the German-Dutch Ems-Dollart Region”. Works by Poppe Folkerts , Julian Klein von Diepold , Hans Trimborn , Alf Depser , Hinricus Bicker-Riepe and Reinhard Schmidt as well as works by artists still active today are on display. The paintings shown change annually.
Emder armory
Part of the city’s largest collection of early modern armor, cutting and stabbing weapons and firearms in all of Northern Germany is on display in the State Museum. The special cultural and historical value is the clarification of the defense stock of an early modern city. Armories and armories have only existed as separate institutions in northern German cities since the 16th century.
In Emden, city regulations have been documenting the existence of an arsenal for equipping vigilante groups and city mercenaries since 1562. In 1582 it found its place under the roof of the town hall on Delft. The armory lost its actual function as early as the middle of the 17th century when the vigilante groups lost their role in protecting the city. From then on the increase was limited to gifts of private weapons, and the arsenal became a cabinet of rarities. The armory experienced a brief renaissance when the equipment of the vigilante groups from the revolutionary years 1848/49 expanded the inventory. One of the last notable additions took place under Kaiser Wilhelm I. He handed over weapons from the Franco-German War in 1870/71. Since 1900 there have been efforts to set up the armory as a defense history collection and to equip it further. This thought was dropped again after the First World War.
In the current permanent exhibition, however, the focus is on the weapons of the 16th and 17th centuries, the “golden age” of the city, while the precious hunting weapons, the Dutch wheellock pistols or the breech-loading rifles from the 19th and early 20th centuries are presented in special exhibitions should.
Tower and carillon
The “tower keepers” kept watch on the town hall tower for centuries. Their main task was the night fire watch. As a control and as a reassuring sign of vigilance, they gave an hourly signal down from the tower until in 1896 the office of tower guard was abolished due to technical developments. The night watchman corps and the "Rateler", which was dissolved in 1905 and named after a wooden rattle that served as an alarm instrument, are also the subject of the small exhibition area.
Bernhard Brahms, a citizen of Emden, donated the carillon to the city on September 6, 2000 in gratitude for surviving the almost complete destruction of Emden on that very day in 1944. The largest of the 23 bells bears the inscription "Civibus Hostitibusque Embdae Gaudio" (To the joy of the citizens and guests of Emden). The bells, made in the rare key of G major, were cast by the “Koninklijke Eijsbouts” company in Asten (Netherlands).
Porters, management and staff
The Society for Fine Arts and Patriotic Antiquities of Emden since 1820 and the city of Emden are the sponsors of the museum and equally occupy the executive board, the chairmanship of which changes annually. The director is Wolfgang Jahn . In addition, there was an international scientific advisory board until 2008, which was of great importance for the new conception of the house.
Awards
The Lower Saxony Sparkassenstiftung awarded the museum with its museum prize in 2007. At that time, this was endowed with 25,000 euros and is awarded every two years. The jury justified the award with the words: "The Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum receives the prize for its holistic work in all core areas of museum activity - collecting, preserving, researching and communicating - as well as for the successful renovation of the museum and its contemporary museum management."
In 2007 the state museum was successfully certified by the Museumsverband Niedersachsen und Bremen eV and in 2015 it was again awarded the museum seal of approval.
In 2002, 2008, 2010 and 2013 the VGH Foundation awarded the museum the Museum Education Award.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden: Mission statement. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum: The town hall on Delft turns 50 , viewed on December 10, 2012.
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum: The redesign. The old town hall in a new look , viewed on December 10, 2012.
- ^ Paul Weßels: Minutes of the meeting of the working group of local chronicles on April 13, 2007 in the Emden Landesmuseum. December 19, 2007, accessed April 13, 2017 .
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden: History of the museum. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden: Opening of the New Gallery. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden: History of the museum. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden: Collection exhibition. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum: History of the Museum , viewed on December 10, 2012.
- ^ Paul Weßels : Minutes of the meeting of the working group of local chronicles on April 13, 2007 in the Emden Landesmuseum (PDF; 77 kB), viewed on December 10, 2012.
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum: The Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden receives 2007 Museum Prize , viewed on December 10, 2012.
- ^ Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden: Important award for the Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden. Retrieved April 13, 2017 .
- ↑ MUSEALOG - Association for acquiring, developing and maintaining historical material culture: Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden , accessed March 13, 2013.
Bunker Museum Emden | Dat Otto Huus | Lightship Amrumbank in the port of Emden | Terrain van Calcar | Art gallery in Emden | Johannes a Lasco Library | Museum logger city of Emden in the port of Emden | East Frisian State Museum Emden | Pelzerhäuser | Emergency rescue cruiser Georg Breusing in the port of Emden
Coordinates: 53 ° 22 ′ 0.5 ″ N , 7 ° 12 ′ 24.9 ″ E