Thuringian Museum (Eisenach)

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The Thuringian Museum Eisenach is a state museum for the art and cultural history of Thuringia and the history of the city of Eisenach. The museum , thanks to its extensive collections member and co-founder of the Thuringian Porcelain Route .

Location and current locations

The Thuringian Museum Eisenach was founded on June 21, 1899 as a "collection for handicrafts, sacred art and artefacts from the region of West Thuringia".

The Thuringian Museum Eisenach today consists of the locations

  • The city palace on the market

  • Preacher Church

  • Gardener's house in the Kartausgarten

  • The Reutervilla

The automobile welt eisenach technology museum, also located in Eisenach, was temporarily affiliated with the Thuringian Museum for administrative purposes and has been sponsored by the automobile welt eisenach foundation since April 1, 2014 . Parts of the city ​​palace on Eisenacher Markt are currently being restored, so only part of the showrooms are currently accessible.

history

Grand Ducal Art Collections

View into the lost grand ducal arms and art collection armory of the Wartburg

Already during the reign of Grand Duke Karl August von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach , the establishment of an art collection for the ducal curiosity collection in the Weimar City Palace began, also at the suggestion and with the support of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe . Goethe's brother-in-law Vulpius was also given the task of collecting and buying church antiquities in the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach . These objects form the basis of a collection of antiques that Grand Duke Carl Alexander wanted to use to design the Wartburg as a museum.

Foundation of the Thuringian Museum Eisenach Foundation

The thematic orientation of the Wartburg Museum to the history of the Ludowingers and Wettins as Thuringian landgraves and the person of Martin Luther with the introduction of the Reformation in Thuringia prevented its use there. Alternatively captain Wartburg and art patron was the then Hans Lucas Cranach suggested the former church of Eisenach Dominican monastery on Predigerplatz, she was part of the building complex of Eisenach Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium and thus also for the present there Carl-Alexander Library a important addition.

The celebratory founding event took place at the invitation of the castle captain von Cranach on June 21, 1899. According to the statutes, the museum was supposed to unite all objects of prehistoric, historical, literary, artistic and applied arts importance in the Thuringian region. As early as July 1, 1899, the population of the Eisenach part of the country, to which the Thuringian Rhön also belonged with the Eisenacher Oberland , was asked to provide monetary donations and local works of art, antiques, finds, etc. asked. The Thuringian Museum Eisenach Foundation was used as the legal form .

Already on the first day of opening, August 6, 1899, 422 exhibits could be viewed by the visitors. The presentation of the objects still corresponded to the form customary at the time, in that blackboards and tables were equipped with the exhibits. Only particularly valuable objects such as coins and jewelry were exhibited behind glass. The Bornemann prehistoric collection , which the Eisenach brickworks owner and archaeologist had recovered from the northern outskirts near Stregda , made up a large part of the first few years .

The 1920s

The undefined status as a partly state - partly municipal collection and the insufficient funding became problematic for the museum's continued existence. In the legal dispute about the compensation for the prince after the abdication of the last reigning Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst in 1918, not only the Carl Alexander Library but also the Thuringian Museum had to be found. Here again, the castle captain von Cranach acted as an intermediary and the city administration of Eisenach took over a significant part of the financing costs. The inventory of the museum, insofar as it was a question of items from the private property of the House of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach, remained in their possession, but was given to the museum as loans.

City Palace becomes part of the museum

The city administration has been considering the premises of the Eisenach City Palace for museum use since the 1920s. The administration moved and the museum was expanded to include the showrooms in the castle. In order to reduce costs, the additional exhibits - for example medieval sacred works of art from the surrounding parishes - were preferably loaned, with the simultaneous obligation to carry out the most necessary restoration to take over. A restoration workshop was established in the museum for this purpose.

The museum in the 1930s and 40s

The success story of the Thuringian Museum continued in the 1930s through donations from private individuals. The Curt Elschner collection and the historical furnishings of the swan pharmacy from Berka / Werra were added as crowd pullers during this time . The museum's scientific staff were featured in the daily newspapers and monthly newspapers with numerous articles on the history of the city and on art history topics. In the 1930s, the numerous efforts in the field of monument preservation and nature and homeland protection were also supported to the best of their ability. After the end of the war, the future of the museum was again called into question. Most of the inventory was relocated to the art depots, but after the war the occupying powers confiscated all valuable works of art and archival material. This particularly affected the armory of the Wartburg , which was removed by the Soviet Trophy Commission in 1946 and has not been returned to this day (2014).

Collections and exhibition areas of the Thuringian Museum

Historic interior - city palace

Erected in the middle of the 18th century, the Eisenach City Palace ( 50 ° 58 ′ 30.1 ″  N , 10 ° 19 ′ 11.7 ″  E ) has several representative interiors, which are gradually being used again as a museum area after the general renovation of the building can be. These include the rococo hall in the north wing and adjacent rooms from the time of the Eisenach dukes. The historic stables on the ground floor of the palace complex were opened as an exhibition space on May 9, 1931.

Art collections in the city palace

The extensive holdings of the art collections in the city palace are distributed over the suites of rooms on two floors, including masterpieces from Thuringian faience, porcelain and glass manufacturers, paintings, sculptures, furniture and other handicrafts from different centuries. For the painting collection of the museum includes the 1925 from art patron Curt Elschner received Elschner Gallery , a collection of the so-called genre and salon painting.

Another collection is the Thuringian landscape painting of the Weima School , including works by Friedrich Preller the Elder , Carl Hummel , Karl Buchholz , Albert Brendel and Ludwig von Gleichen-Rußwurm . An extensive collection relates to contemporary Thuringian painting. The folk art department shows objects from rural and urban life in Central and West Thuringia, including traditional costumes, jewelry and furniture.

The museum has a pharmaceutical history collection. The Rats / Hofapotheke, founded in 1585, contains faience from the 17th and 18th centuries, glass vessels from the 18th and 19th centuries, mortars and mortars from the 17th to 19th centuries and a large herb press made in 1645. The fully preserved pharmacy in the Schwan-Apotheke Berka is from the first third of the 18th century. It can be viewed as a permanent exhibition.

Medieval history in Eisenach

The exhibition rooms in the former Predigerkirche ( 50 ° 58 ′ 29 ″  N , 10 ° 18 ′ 59.8 ″  E ) form the oldest part of the Thuringian Museum. From 1903, the early Gothic refectory, which had previously been used as a municipal warehouse, and adjacent parts of the sacred building were made accessible to museum use. Initially, the prehistory and early history finds found during excavations in the Eisenach clay pits as well as donations from the Eisenach population formed the basis of this collection. After the First World War, under the curator Wilhelm Stelljes, the museum acquired medieval sacred sculptures from all over Thuringia and today it has one of the largest collections of its kind in Germany. Exhibits on the history of the city of Eisenach - in particular the thematic exhibitions on the life of St. Elisabeth - form a new focus.

Reutervilla - Literature Museum

The old residence of the poet and writer Fritz Reuter is located on Reuterweg - the Reutervilla. ( 50 ° 58 ′ 5 ″  N , 10 ° 19 ′ 10.5 ″  E ) This building, along with the garden, the original furniture and numerous books and memorabilia provide a unique opportunity to familiarize yourself with the life and late works of the popular Low German poet close.

Richard Wagner - music history

Also in the rooms of the Reutervilla is a 6,000-volume scientific library on the life and work of Richard Wagner , it also includes letters, original scores and contemporary testimonies from the life of the opera composer.

Tea room in the Kartausgarten

Of the Eisenach Südviertel , at the pump room located Kartaus has a garden shed ( 50 ° 58 '6.3 "  N , 10 ° 19' 28.7"  O ) with the tea room . This room is decorated with large-format French silk wallpaper and is the fourth location in the city.

Current situation

In preparation for the 100th anniversary of the founding in 1999, the Thuringian Museum tried very hard to advance the construction and renovation work in the city palace. As the first construction phase, the stables could be returned to use. Step by step, more rooms were ready for occupancy. In September 2008, the newly created, market-side visitor access with city information was opened. Additional showrooms were also available on the first floor. In the Predigerkirche, the much-noticed permanent exhibition on the “world of the poor”, which was thematically related to the Elisabeth anniversary, was continued through further projects. The art-historically significant porcelain collections will remain an important destination for visitors as part of the newly created Thuringian Porcelain Route.

In the course of the year, there are also numerous special exhibitions, for example on Eisenach artists and personalities, on archaeological excavations in the city or historical events in the region. The exhibition on children's toys and Christmas customs that takes place in the run-up to Christmas is traditional.

The presentation of the Reutervilla as an example of the architecture and furnishings of a middle-class retirement home is also planned - Eisenach has the largest villa colony in Thuringia in the southern district. In this context, there have already been reports about a relocation of the Richard Wagner collection housed in this house, which could also be relocated to the city palace.

literature

  • Ralf-Michael Kunze: The Thuringian Museum Eisenach, collection on the art and cultural history of Thuringia . Ed .: City administration Eisenach, cultural office. Eisenach 2000, ISBN 3-00-005561-4 , p. 127 .
  • Helmut Scherf: The Thuringian Museum in Eisenach - Its history and its collections , Eisenach 1979.
  • Helmut Scherf: Sacred sculpture - medieval sculptures from Thuringia, Prisma-Verlag Zenner and Gürchott, Leipzig 1985.
  • Heinrich Seidel: The Fritz Reuter and Richard Wagner Museum in Eisenach . Eisenach 1976.
  • Bernd Mähler, Heinrich Weigel: The garden at the Reutervilla . In: Gardens, parks and park-like valleys and forest areas in the Eisenach district . Eisenach writings on local history. Eisenach, 1985 p. 3, 16-18.
  • "Thuringian Museum Eisenach" . In: Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thüringen (Hrsg.): Museums in Thuringia . Frankfurt / Erfurt 1995, p. 46-47 .
  • Wolfgang Fiek: The pharmacy history collection in the Thuringian Museum in Eisenach . Society for the History of Pharmacy.
  • W. Stelljes: 350 years of the court pharmacy on the market . Eisenach 1935.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ City and foundation sign new operating contract , accessed on March 12, 2014
  2. ^ Hanna-Sabine Hummel, Angelika Grunewald: 100 years of the Thuringian Museum Eisenach. Foundation and first years . In: MFB Verlagsgesellschaft mbH Eisenach (ed.): StadtZeit. City journal with information from the Wartburg district . June issue. Druck- und Verlagshaus Frisch, Eisenach 1999, p. 5-9 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Hanna-Sabine Hummel, Angelika Grunewald: StadtZeit . June issue, 1999, p. 8-9 .
  4. ↑ Announcement, regarding the dispute agreement between the Weimar area and the former sovereign, in: Government and News Gazette for Sachsen-Weimar Eisenach , Part I Government Gazette, year 1921, No. 29 of November 28, 1921, p. 129 (digitized here )
  5. ↑ a b Angela Möller: To save the unique collection of medieval sculptures from Thuringia . In: StadtZeit . October issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 12-14 .
  6. ^ Fritz Kämper: The fifties in the Eisenacher Museum . In: StadtZeit . August issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 9-148 .
  7. ↑ With a nymph and a lot of stucco - the ceiling painting Triumph of Galatea immediately attracts attention in the rococo hall. In: Eisenacher Allgemeine , Eisenach local edition of the Thuringian General of June 14, 2008
  8. ↑ Hanna-Sabine Hummel: Old Thuringian porcelain . In: StadtZeit . September issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 7-9 .
  9. ↑ Hanna-Sabine Hummel, Angelika Grunewald: The Curt Elschner Gallery . In: StadtZeit . June issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 5-9 .
  10. ↑ Kathrin Jentsch: Thuringian painting of the 19th century . In: StadtZeit . September issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 11-13 .
  11. ↑ Kathrin Jentsch: Thuringian Painting of the 20th Century . In: StadtZeit . September issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 14-17 .
  12. ↑ Angelika Senf: The Folklore Collection . In: StadtZeit . July issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 17-22 .
  13. ^ Hanna-Sabine Hummel: The collection "Medieval Art in Thuringia" . In: StadtZeit . October issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 9-11 .
  14. ↑ Hanna-Sabine Hummel: 100 Years of the Thuringian Museum Eisenach - the 60s, 70s and 80s . In: StadtZeit . September issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 5-6 .
  15. ^ Gudrun Osmann: The Reuter Wagner Museum . In: StadtZeit . August issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 18-21 .
  16. ^ Marietta Danner: Memories of the Thuringian Museum . In: StadtZeit . November issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 4-9 .
  17. ↑ Gudrun Osmann: Tea room in the Karthausgarten with Amor and Psyche wallpapers . In: StadtZeit . August issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 16-17 .
  18. ↑ Hanna-Sabine Hummel: 100 Years of the Thuringian Museum Eisenach - the last ten years . In: StadtZeit . October issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 4-7 .
  19. ↑ Hanna-Sabine Hummel: 100 Years Thuringian Museum Eisenach . In: StadtZeit . August issue. Eisenach 1999, p. 4-8 .