Braunschweig Castle Museum
 Castle with entrance to the castle museum |
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place |
Braunschweig 
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| Art | |
| opening | 2011 |
| operator |
Braunschweig Residence Palace Foundation
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| Website | |
| ISIL | DE-MUS-012320 |
The Braunschweig Palace Museum is a history museum in the Braunschweig residential palace, which was rebuilt in 2007 . On an area of around 600 square meters on the first floor of the north wing, the furnishings of the most representative rooms of the former Guelph residence have been reconstructed, furnished with original furniture ensembles and works of art and supplemented with information media.
The themes of the permanent exhibition are the furnishings of the Guelph residence in the 19th century, the changing history of the castle and its inhabitants, the dukes of Braunschweig and their court as well as the history of the duchy of Braunschweig . The castle museum is supported by the Braunschweig Residenzschloss Foundation, founded in 2010.
The most important lenders include the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum , the Richard Borek Foundation , the Städtisches Museum Braunschweig , the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig and the Hoffmann-von-Fallersleben-Museum in Wolfsburg .
History of the museum
From 1920 to 1935 there was already a residence museum in the previous building on the northwestern bel étage using the ducal living and state rooms. In the course of the reconstruction of the Braunschweiger Residenzschloss, which was demolished in 1960, it was planned from autumn 2003 to set up a museum on subjects of the history of the residence in the new Braunschweiger Residenzschloss. Almost all interior pieces and the paintings in the museum were preserved for decades in museums, public institutions and in private ownership after the ducal court was dissolved from 1918 to 1922. Extensive research began as early as the mid-1990s. In 2005 in particular, many objects were bought back at the Welfenhaus auction on Marienburg .
The first floor in the north wing was initially planned for the new museum. From spring 2010, the planning was expanded to include the northwestern rooms, which were initially reserved for the registry office. This made it possible to separate the themed rooms from the showrooms and create an enfilade on the north side in the form of the apartments of Duke Wilhelm von Braunschweig (reigned 1830–1884), while the presentation of the history of the palace, duchy and Guelph came to the northwestern rooms . The cost of setting up the museum was just under three million euros. The newly developed, two-pronged concept made it possible to clearly distinguish it from the other two state museums in Braunschweig, which are responsible for looking after the ducal art collections and presenting the history of the duchy and the country. The castle museum was opened on April 9, 2011.
Northwestern themed rooms
The northwestern rooms, the White Hall , the Green Salon and the Gallery, are dedicated to conveying the core themes of the palace, duchy, Welfen and the royal seat of Braunschweig. The so-called "Historical Menu", a series of interactive PC stations in the form of a dining table in the White Hall, represents a catalog of history with informative texts and many unpublished pictures.
In the gallery there are boards with maps of the Duchy of Braunschweig and the city of Braunschweig as well as a Guelph family tree, which extends from the 11th century to the present day. The panels are hidden behind folding paintings with romantic motifs from ancient Italy based on the destroyed originals in the grand ballroom of the former castle. As with the historical menu, visitors should go on a discovery tour themselves.
The Green Salon shows a film on the history of the castle and exhibits such as the bust of the master builder Carl Theodor Ottmer , the foundation stone of the castle from 1833 and a colored replica of the ideal plan of the castle from 1836.
Like the showrooms, the three rooms are in the late classical style of the palace.
With its pillars, the figural cornices, the painted ceiling with swan motifs of the Apollo deity and the original colors in the tones of red, white and gold - the colors of the historic state apartments - the white hall is an extensive reconstruction of the original hall in the upper floor of the south wing .
Entrance area
The connection between the three north-western, didactic rooms and the northern showrooms is the vestibule , which was largely reconstructed in the style of the 1870s with a coffered ceiling , its red-gray room color and a row of four green-marbled stucco columns.
Adjacent to the vestibule is a small room for temporary exhibitions, which is reserved for topics from the history of the castle and duchy. Until 2015, changing exhibitions showed the design of the castle museum, the rediscovery of castle objects and furniture, the work of noble Brunswick princesses using the example of Abbess Therese Natalie von Gandersheim and the life of Marie, the wife of the "Black Duke".
Northern showrooms
The living and representative rooms located north of the temporary exhibition room on an enfilade to the palace square follow the style and furnishings of the ducal apartments of Duke Wilhelm. They lead from the semi-private to the official rooms: from the bright, personally furnished music room to the semi-official study in the dark green tones preferred by Wilhelm to the gold-tinted audience room for small receptions.
Furniture and works of art in the enfilade
The furniture from the period from 1825 to 1880 comes entirely from the former residential palace and has been made available by various lenders. It changes from the oldest pieces, from wood-covered, light Empire furniture in the music room to the heavy, multifariously ornamented furniture with references to the castle architecture in the study. Here, too, the furniture is still wood-like. Only in the audience room with the self-portrayal of the duchy are they of higher rank and therefore partly and completely gilded. The items in the household items such as vases, centerpieces, clocks, lamps, ashtrays for cigars and other items also increase in internationality and material value in the enfilade: in the audience room there are finally gilded bronze candlesticks from Paris, silver centerpieces from London and vases from the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin .
The arrangement of the paintings by Brunswick dukes, duke couples and their children from the 18th to the 20th century also follows the rise in the rank of the rooms. The private circle of Duke Wilhelm's parents and grandparents in the music room is replaced in the study by the connections to the Prussian royal house and in the audience room by the marriages in the great imperial houses in Vienna and Petersburg. With the exception of two paintings, all come from the historic residential palace.
The exhibition concept is based on the principle of a "spatial work of art" so that showcases and text panels were dispensed with in order to achieve the most authentic spatial effect possible. Instead, an audio guide accompanies the visitor.
Throne room
The throne room is the highlight of the museum. With the red silk wallpaper woven according to old patterns, the new coffered ceiling, carpet and throne canopy and the original gold-plated furniture, it is an almost complete reconstruction of the former throne room , which was located to the right of the portico until 1935 . The silk wallpaper was woven again in Lyon, France, based on the original designs for the throne room from 1866. After the castle museum was closed in 1935 as the SS Junkerschule moved into the residential castle, the gilded furniture, the throne chair, the large wall mirror and the stove screen were given to the Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, while the remaining nine seating and table furniture were sold to Celle . In 2011 they were bought back by a private foundation for Braunschweig. The six paintings in the new throne room once belonged in the historic previous hall and were left to the castle museum by both private and museum sources.
Web links
- Website of the Braunschweig Castle Museum
- Website of the Braunschweig Residence Palace Foundation
- Press photos from the opening of the museum
- Video: Brunswick walks. from "The Lion - The Portal of the Brunswick Foundations"
Individual evidence
- ^ Braunschweig Castle Museum. on the website of the city of Braunschweig. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ^ Braunschweig Castle Museum. on zeitorte.de. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ↑ Meike Buck: Marie! - The exhibition in the castle museum was dedicated to the wife of the "Black Duke". on der-loewe.info. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ↑ Residenzschloss. on the website of the city of Braunschweig. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
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