Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin

The Kunstgewerbemuseum, or Museum of Decorative Arts, is an internationally important museum of the decorative arts in Berlin, Germany, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums). The collection is split between the Kunstgewerbemuseum building at the Kulturforum (52.5097°N 13.3674°E / 52.5097; 13.3674 (Kunstgewerbemuseum, Kulturforum)) and Köpenick Palace (52.4439°N 13.5728°E / 52.4439; 13.5728 (Kunstgewerbemuseum, Schloss Köpenick)).

The entrance to the Kunstgewerbemuseum at the Kulturforum
Inside the Kunstgewerbemuseum

History

It was founded in 1868 as the Deutsches Gewerbe-Museum zu Berlin, and originally had a teaching institute as well as a public museum. The collection grew significantly in the 1870s,[1] and it was renamed Kunstgewerbemuseum in 1879. In 1881 it relocated into the Martin-Gropius-Bau – where Priam's Treasure was also on display for a time – and in 1921 it moved into the Stadtschloss.[2]

Köpenick palace

Parts of the collection were destroyed in World War II,[3] and the surviving items were split between East and West Berlin.[2] The Eastern collection moved into Köpenick Palace in 1963, while the Western exhibits moved first into Charlottenburg Palace, then into the new museum building in the Kulturforum[4] in 1985, built by Rolf Gutbrod.

Exhibition

The Kunstgewerbemuseum displays European (and Byzantine) decorative arts from all post-classical periods of art history, and features gold, silver, glass and enamel items, porcelain, furniture, panelling, tapestry, costumes, and silks.[5][6]

The north wing of the former Kunstgewerbemuseum (today Martin-Gropius-Bau), which for many years accommodated the Unterrichtsanstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums Berlin ("teaching institute")

There is a very important collection of Late Antique objects in many media. The items from the Middle Ages include a large number of gold reliquaries (including the reliquary arm of St. Caesarius).[7][8][9] The Renaissance is represented by silverware from the city councillors of Lüneburg,[10] and bronze sculptures, tapestries, furniture, Venetian glasses and maiolicas from the Italian princely courts.[5]

The Baroque era is represented by faiences from Delft,[11] and glass items.[12] There is also European porcelain (particularly from Meissen and the Royal Manufacturer of Berlin), and decorative crockery from the rococo, classicist, historicist and Art Nouveau styles. The "New Collection" of 20th century craftwork includes industrially-manufactured products.[5]

  • Fragment of an embroidered tapestry from Halberstadt, around 1170
  • The Guelph Cross, first half 12th century
  • Processional cross from Enger
  • Nautilus cup of Aleksander Kęsowski, abbot of Oliwa, 1643-1667[13]
  • Merseburger Spiegelkabinett, 1712–1715, by Johann Michael Hoppenhaupt I., from the Merseburg palace (today at Köpenick palace)
  • Drawing room furniture by Carlo Bugatti, Milan around 1885

See also

Notes
  1. Barbara Mundt, Die deutschen Kunstgewerbemuseen im 19. Jahrhundert, Prestel, 1974
  2. Heute mal Extremitäten Tobias Timm, Die Zeit, 31 August 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2010. (in German)
  3. Kunstgewerbemuseum Archived 2013-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Berlin State Museums. (in German)
  4. Kunstgewerbemuseum Kulturforum. (in German)
  5. Museum of Decorative Arts (in English)
  6. Bestandskatalog des Kunstgewerbemuseums Berlin, Volume 4, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Staatliche Museen, Kunstgewerbe Schloss Charlottenburg, 1970
  7. Martina Junghans: Die Armreliquiare in Deutschland vom 11. bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts, Dissertation Bonn (2000), Bonn 2002, Kat.-Nr. 1
  8. Dietrich Kötzsche, Der Welfenschatz im Berliner Kunstgewerbemuseum, Mann, 1973
  9. Bilderhefte der Staatlichen Museen, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Volumi 20-21, Mann, 1967
  10. Bestandskatalog des Kunstgewerbemuseums Berlin, Volume 5, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Staatliche Museen, Kunstgewerbe Schloss Charlottenburg, 1971
  11. Meissen: Steinzeug und Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, 1980
  12. Monika Bierschenk, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin. Kunsthandwerk vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Berlin 1989.
  13. Marcin Latka. "Abbot Kęsowski's cup". artinpl. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
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