St. Annen Museum
Encyclopedia
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
-Germany is a former monastery of the Augustinians
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
. It is now part of the Lübeck's museum for history of art and culture. It is located near the Saint Giles
Saint Giles
Saint Giles was a Greek Christian hermit saint from Athens, whose legend is centered in Provence and Septimania. The tomb in the abbey Giles was said to have founded, in St-Gilles-du-Gard, became a place of pilgrimage and a stop on the road that led from Arles to Santiago de Compostela, the...
Church and next to the synagogue in the south eastern town of Lübeck.
History of the building
The monastery and the associated church, which was constructed rather quirkily due to lack of space, were built 1502 – 1515 in late brick gothicBrick Gothic
Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the regions around the Baltic Sea that do not have natural rock resources. The buildings are essentially built from bricks...
style. The monastery was used mainly for the accommodation of unmarried women who were citizens in Lübeck. Following the suggestion of Lübeck's bishop the monastery and the church were consecrated to Saint Anna. A few years later the monastery was closed during the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, in 1532 the last of the nuns left. In 1610 a poorhouse was established, later, parts of the monastery were used as a prison. For this purpose another wing was built in 1778, the so called Spinnhaus (Spin house). The care for the poor and the prisoners existed under the one umbrella.
In 1843 parts of the monastery and the church were burnt out. During the restoration of the monastery building, the church was torn down except for a few fragments that stayed in ruin.
Most of the rooms on the ground floor of the monastery are preserved in their original condition: the cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
, the refectories
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
, the Remter (the largest room of the monastery, probably the working and day room of the nuns, from 1733 the refectory of the poorhouse), the chapter house
Chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....
, and the sacristy
Sacristy
A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.The sacristy is usually located inside the church, but in some cases it is an annex or separate building...
of the monastery church. In the south western corner of the cloister is the calefactory.
Museum for history of art and culture
In 1912 the senate of the HanseaticHanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
city decided to reconstruct the monastery into a museum. This caused changes of the ground plan in order to adopt floorboards and wainscots of private town-houses. The opening of the museum took place in 1915 with some delay due to World War I. From 1920 to 1933, Carl Georg Heise managed the museum. In this era the acquisition of the Behnhaus
Behnhaus
The Behnhaus is an art museum in the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, Germany, and part of its World heritage site.The Behnhaus as a structure is a neoclassical building with interior design by the Danish architect Joseph Christian Lillie. The museum exhibits furniture from this period, and paintings and...
and the assembly of its collection took place.
Sacral art of the Middle Ages
Thanks to an early decree of the senate for the preservation of Memorials of the Antiquity and Art (1818) and the resulting collection practice of Carl Julius Milde in the 19th century, the museum houses the largest collection of medieval polyptychPolyptych
A polyptych generally refers to a painting which is divided into sections, or panels. The terminology that follows is in relevance to the number of panels integrated into a particular piece of work: "diptych" describes a two-part work of art; "triptych" describes a three-part work; "tetraptych"...
s (altarpiece
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
s) in Germany. It possesses the Grönauer Altar, the only preserved gothic high altar of a church in Lübeck. The other preserved altars mostly were donated by guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s or merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s to monastery churches, e.g. to the church of the castle monastery or to the Saint Catherine Church. Among them are
- the altar of LukeLuke the EvangelistLuke the Evangelist was an Early Christian writer whom Church Fathers such as Jerome and Eusebius said was the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles...
, made by the painter Hermen RodeHermen RodeHermen Rode was a German painter.Rode is recorded in Lübeck as a late Gothic painter. In his importance he stands equally next to his fellow countryman Bernt Notke. Together they were the most important exporters of art into the countries around the Baltic Sea...
, - the altar of the traveller to ScaniaScaniaScania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
, made by Bernt NotkeBernt Notke' was the most important German painter and sculptor in Northern Europe in his times....
, - the altar of Saint AnthonyAnthony the GreatAnthony the Great or Antony the Great , , also known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius , and Father of All Monks, was a Christian saint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers...
, made by Benedikt DreyerBenedikt DreyerBenedikt Dreyer was a German sculptor, carver and painter working in Lübeck.Dreyer was an apprentice in Lüneburg , and was a house owner in Lübeck until 1555, according to the land register....
, - the altar of passionPassion (Christianity)The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
, made by Hans MemlingHans MemlingHans Memling was a German-born Early Netherlandish painter.-Life and works:Born in Seligenstadt, near Frankfurt in the Middle Rhein region, it is believed that Memling served his apprenticeship at Mainz or Cologne, and later worked in the Netherlands under Rogier van der Weyden...
and was originally donated to the Lübeck CathedralLübeck CathedralThe Lübeck Cathedral is a large brick Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of Lübeck's world heritage. It was started in 1173 by Henry the Lion as a cathedral for the Bishop of Lübeck. It was partly destroyed in a bombing raid in World War II , and later reconstructed. The organ by Arp...
by the Greverade family, and finally - a private altar, the tryptych of the councilman Hinrich Kerckring, made by Jacob van UtrechtJacob van UtrechtJacob Claesz van Utrecht, also named by his signature Jacobus Traiectensis was a Flemish early Renaissance painter who worked in Antwerp and Lübeck.-Life:...
, which found its adventurous way from the collection of Friedrich Wilhelm Brederlo in RigaRigaRiga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
to Lübeck.
Another outstanding piece is the Group of Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
(1504), which was initially made for the Saint Jürgen chapel at the Ratzeburger Allee by the sculptor Henning von der Heyde. The work of Hans Kemmer, a pupil of Cranach
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
, embodies the changes of the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
and the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
in Lübeck.
Besides the carved
Wood carving
Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...
and painted objects, the museum also shows – like a lapidary
Lapidary
A lapidary is an artist or artisan who forms stone, mineral, gemstones, and other suitably durable materials into decorative items such as engraved gems, including cameos, or cabochons, and faceted designs...
– sculptures of the Romanesque and the Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
, the most precious piece is the Madonna of Niendorf, which was made by Johannes Junge and was found in 1926 in a barn in Lübeck-Niendorf. Also remarkable is the Parable of the Ten Virgins
Parable of the Ten Virgins
The Parable of the Ten Virgins, also known as the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, is one of the well known parables of Jesus. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament...
, which was initially set up in the church of the castle monastery.
Council, guild, and church silverware
A special collection of representative cups, goblets, pots, utility objects and derivative pieces give praise to the high technical skills of Lübeck's gold and silversmiths and the wealth of their customers. The date of origin for these objects is generally presumed to be after the reformation, due to Lübeck's mayor Jürgen WullenweverJürgen Wullenwever
Jürgen Wullenwever was burgomaster of Lübeck from 1533 to 1535, a period of religious, political and trade turmoil.-Biography:Wullenwever was probably born at Hamburg in 1492...
ordering the melting down of medieval silverware in order to finance the war against Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(Count's Feud
Count's Feud
The Count's Feud , also called the Count's War, was a civil war that raged in Denmark in 1534–36 and brought about the Reformation in Denmark...
).
Lübeck's home decor
The development of the middle-class home decor from the RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
to the Classicism
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
can be seen in several rooms, which are partially made of Lübeck's private town-houses. In front of the background of contemporary art – amongst others by Godfrey Kneller
Godfrey Kneller
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...
and Thomas Quellinus
Thomas Quellinus
Thomas Quellinus , also known, especially in Denmark, as Thomas Qvellinus, was a Flemish baroque sculptor who worked mainly in Copenhagen, Denmark...
, who made the bust of the councilman Thomas Fredenhagen in the baroque high altar of St. Mary's Church
St. Mary's Church, Lübeck
The Lutheran Marienkirche in Lübeck was constructed between 1250 and 1350. For many years it has been a symbol of the power and prosperity of the old Hanseatic city, and as Germany's third largest church it remains the tallest building of the old part of Lübeck. It is larger than Lübeck Cathedral...
—, which reflects the taste of Lübeck's citizens, and the appropriate decor, made of porcelain by Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg and can refer to the following.- Historical states :* Fürstenberg , county * Fürstenberg-Baar, county * Fürstenberg-Blumberg, county...
and Meissen
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
, one can well emphasize the depicted era. The greatest influence has a completely conserved baroque floorboard made in 1736. Annexed to this part of the exhibition is a special collection of Faience
Faience
Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...
from Northern Germany
Northern Germany
- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
in the upper floor, emphasizing the manufactures in Kellinghusen
Kellinghusen
Kellinghusen is a town in the district of Steinburg in the Bundesland of Schleswig-Holstein.- Geography :Kellinghusen is located northeast of Itzehoe on both sides of the Stör River. The federal highway Bundesstraße 206 passes Kellinghusen in the south. Kellinghusen is connected with the...
, Stockelsdorf
Stockelsdorf
Stockelsdorf is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated directly northwest of Lübeck. There is a large glass pyramid in the town center, which is a greek restaurant. Stockelsdorf has one primary- and one middle-school.-Partner towns: Le Portel,...
, and Stralsund
Stralsund
- Main sights :* The Brick Gothic historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.* The heart of the old town is the Old Market Square , with the Gothic Town Hall . Behind the town hall stands the imposing Nikolaikirche , built in 1270-1360...
. Further, a collection of toys sheds light on past time activities of young Hanseatics. But the oldest hobby horse
Hobby horse (toy)
A hobby horse is a child's toy horse, particularly popular during the days before cars. Children played at riding a wooden hobby horse made of a straight stick with a small horse's head , and perhaps reins, attached to one end. The bottom end of the stick sometimes had a small wheel or wheels...
of the museum is within a group of children on the Altar der Gertrudenbrüderschaft der Träger (around 1509), which originates from the circle of Henning von der Heyde.
Chamber of paraments
Surely another area worth noting is the chamber of paramentParament
A Parament or Parement; , a term applied by ancient writers to the hangings or ornaments of a room of state. Later it has referred to the liturgical hangings on and around the altar, as well as the cloths hanging from the pulpit and lectern, as well as the ecclesiastical vestments and mitres...
s, which exhibits old liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
clothes of some of Lübeck's churches and the main part of the parament treasure of St. Mary's Church
St. Mary's Church, Gdansk
St. Mary's Church or, properly, Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Roman Catholic church in Gdańsk, Poland, which is the largest brick church in the world. It was begun in 1379. St. Mary's Church (Polish: Bazylika Mariacka, German: Marienkirche) or, properly, Basilica of...
in Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
.
Photo collection
Among the treasures that are not shown to the public is a collection of photographs. The collection was built up during the 1920s by Carl Georg Heise; included are approx. 450 artistic photos, among them are 212 photos by Albert Renger-PatzschAlbert Renger-Patzsch
Albert Renger-Patzsch was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity.Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg and began making photographs by age twelve. After military service in the First World War he studied chemistry at Dresden Technical College...
. It is the Collection Showing the History of Photography and the Collection of Ideal Photography. Both collections were not continued after Heise's resignation in 1933 and fell in oblivion for a long time. A few years ago they were brought back into circulation, because the Collection of Ideal Photography is the most comprehensive collection of photographs of the New Objectivity
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity is a term used to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it...
in German (amongst others are works are opus by Renger-Patzsch, Hugo Erfurth
Hugo Erfurth
Hugo Erfurth was a German photographer known for his portraits of celebrities and cultural figures of the early twentieth century.- External links:...
, Umbo, and Robert Petschow).
Kunsthalle St. Anna
Kunsthalle
Kunsthalle is, generally, in German speaking regions a term for a facility mounting temporary art exhibitions. Some are run or supported by a local Kunstverein, an art association of local collectors and artists...
St. Anna. The architecture of the Kunsthalle, which was built modernly in 2004 and has the ruins of the former church and the monastery that burnt down in 1843, was a gift of the Possehl Foundation. In 2003 the architecture of the Kunsthalle, which was planned by the architects Konermann Siegmund from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
/Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
, received the quadrennial star prize of the Bund Deutscher Architekten (Federation of German Architects) of Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
. The Kunsthalle exhibits modern art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
of the 20th century.
Emphasis on self-portraits of modernity
In September 2005, through the medium of Björn EngholmBjörn Engholm
Björn Engholm is a Lübeck born German SPD politician. He was Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein from 1988 to 1993 and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany between 1991 and 1993....
, the Kunsthalle St. Annen received the inimitable collection of Leonie von Rüxleben (1920-21 September 2005). This collection is the largest of its type in Germany. This collection enables the Kunsthalle to show approx. 1300 self-portrait
Self-portrait
A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting...
s of modernity
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...
in different exhibitions. But recently there appeared a conflict between the heirs of von Rüxleben and the museum's administration concerning the management of the inheritance.
Exhibitions
- Exil und Moderne (Exile and Modernity): 50 classical exhibits of classical modernity from the collection of the Washington University in St. Louis, MissouriMissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, 4 September 2005 and 29 January 2006.
in German
In German and English
- Exhibits of the St. Annen Museums within the portal of museums in Schleswig-Holstein
- Exhibits of the St. Annen Museums within the portal of museums in Schleswig-Holstein