Portal to history
The " Portal to History " is a permanent exhibition in Bad Gandersheim with two exhibitions at two locations. The part opened in March 2006 is located in the Romanesque collegiate church and shows the church treasure, which has long been lost. The second part opened in May 2007 in the Brunshausen monastery church and shows textiles, works of art and important women from the history of the monastery.
Collection / collection history
The monastery received its first relics when it was founded by Pope Sergius II. He gave Liudolf , the founder of the monastery, the remains of the holy Popes Anastasius I and Innocentius. Up until the Reformation , the monastery acquired and received a large number of other saints' relics and expanded the church treasury.
After the Reformation, the veneration of saints ended and in times of financial difficulties the abbesses sold the valuable containers and everything that could be "silvered". But they shrank from selling the relics. These were neatly kept in a cupboard with the “remains” of the church treasure. This type of treatment ended with the secularization of the monastery in 1810, the remaining relics and containers were mixed up regardless of their assignment or meaning. Rector Brackebusch and Karl Steinacker made the first attempts at inventory at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. In the 1960s and 1970s, Kurt Kronenberg made parts of the collection accessible through several exhibitions.
Creation of the museum
The idea of presenting the church treasure of the Gandersheim collegiate church in a museum goes back to the restoration of the church around 1900 and was revived between 1992 and 1997. As part of this work, the church treasure was "rediscovered". During the realization, the parish, city and numerous institutions and sponsors pulled together and enabled the establishment of the new exhibition project “Portal zur Geschichte”, one of the most important cultural and historical projects in Lower Saxony . The celebration of the 1150 year jubilee of the Gandersheim collegiate church gave the implementation a special impetus, so that the sponsoring association “Portal zur Geschichte eV” could be founded. The collegiate church community, the city of Bad Gandersheim and interested individuals are involved in it. The first partial opening of the permanent exhibition in the Romanesque collegiate church took place on March 5, 2006.
Conception
The exhibition of the portal on history is spread over two locations, each with a different focus. Together with the themed trails and the historical locations in the city, the exhibition provides a modern, informative insight into the importance of the Gandersheim Women's Foundation and its influence on the city.
Location collegiate church
The portal to the history in the collegiate church is not an ordinary museum, but an exhibition that is integrated into the church that is still in use. In addition to the foundation of the monastery, this part is especially dedicated to the church treasure, which has been made accessible to the public again after being long forgotten. Visitors to the museum will find information about the creation of the monastery in the church. The themed trails allow insights into structural development, life in the church and the art treasures. In the westwork are the exhibition rooms of the church treasure, which consists of relics, textiles, reliquary containers and altar utensils.
Brunshausen location
The second and larger part of the exhibition is located in the Brunshausen monastery church , under the heading "Strong women - fine stitches" and depicts the history from the Middle Ages to the Baroque using the strong women of the monastery . In the center of the church, medieval fabrics from the eastern Mediterranean and baroque fabrics made by the canons are shown, as well as colorful fragments of Romanesque glass windows from Brunshausen. Baroque altar hangings from the collegiate church from 1717 are presented in the chancel according to their use. In a further part, the history of the Brunshausen monastery is explained using found objects. Finally there is the story Bruns Stockhausen in modern times, the monastery served as a concentration camp Bad Gandersheim a satellite camp of Buchenwald . In addition, other strong women have their say, the winners of the Roswitha Prize , which is awarded by the city of Gandersheim .
The third section of the exhibition is also in Brunshausen. Since November 2013, the rediscovered wall paintings, which Abbess Elisabeth Ernestine Antonie von Sachsen-Meiningen had when she expanded Brunshausen's summer palace, can be seen here. They show episodes from the history of the monastery and instructive scenes on architecture and perspective. Central to this section of the exhibition is the virtual presentation of the Carolingian Gandersheim Gospel, which is now kept in Coburg.
literature
- Martin Hoernes, Hedwig Röckelein (eds.): Gandersheim and Essen. Comparative studies on Saxon women's monasteries (Essen research on women's monastery, volume 4). Essen 2006.
- Portal to history: rediscover treasures! Selection catalog, ed. by Martin Hoernes and Thomas Labusiak , Delmenhorst 2007.
- Miriam Gepp, The Collegiate Church in Bad Gandersheim. Memorial place of the Ottonians, ed. by Thomas Labusiak, Munich 2008
- Birgit Heilmann, healing becomes history. The Gandersheim reliquary in the post-Reformation period, ed. by Thomas Labusiak and Hedwig Röckelein, Regensburg 2009 (studies on the women's monastery in Gandersheim and its own monasteries, volume 1)
- Jan Friedrich Richter, Gothic in Gandersheim. The wood sculptures of the 13th to 16th centuries, ed. by Thomas Labusiak and Hedwig Röckelein, Regensburg 2010 (studies on the women's monastery in Gandersheim and its own monasteries, volume 2)
- Christian Popp, The Treasure of Canons. Saints and relics in the women's monastery Gandersheim, ed. by Thomas Labusiak and Hedwig Röckelein, Regensburg 2010 (studies on the women's monastery in Gandersheim and its own monasteries, volume 3)