Heike Fricke MUSIC MUSEUMS AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTIONS In German Music Council / German Music Information Centre, ed., Musical Life in Germany (Bonn, 2019), pp. 486–509 Published in print: December 2019 © German Music Information Centre http://www.miz.org/musical-life-in-germany.html https://themen.miz.org/musical-life-in-germany Kapitel | MUSIC MUSEUMS AND MUSICAL INSTRUMENT COLLECTIONS The self-image of musicians’ museums and instrument col- 19 lections has changed radically in recent years. Above all, the available knowledge is now meant to be made accessible to as many people as possible. Here Heike Fricke describes the challenges this entails. ‘KlangZeitRaum’: an exhibition in Michaelstein Abbey 486 487 Music Museums and Musical Instrument Collections | | Heike Fricke cultivate the memory of such towering figures and to shed light on their working environment and historical surroundings. Only when their music is illuminated in educational programmes, special exhibitions and concerts is it possible to gain MUSIC MUSEUMS AND MUSICAL an understanding and appreciation of our cultural heritage, and thus to kindle interest in the on-going cultivation, conservation and fresh interpretation of the INSTRUMENT COLLECTIONS artefacts of musical culture. Many composers have drawn inspiration for their music not least from the mu- Germany has more than 150 museums devoted to musicians, musical instru- sical instrument industry, which set new historical standards as it evolved. ments, regional music history or ethnomusicology. Among their aims are to col- Museums thus have the mission not only to document the life and works of ma- lect, conserve and communicate the posthumous estates of famous composers jor figures of music history, but also to conserve and update valuable collections or performers; to present, document, contextualise and research the products of of musical instruments, many of which date back to the 19th century or even musical instrument builders; and to explore regional and historical aspects of mu- earlier. Music museums and instrument collections are similar in that both of- sical culture. In the case of such preeminent composers as Heinrich Schütz, Johann fer objects, sources and knowledge of inestimable value to the study of music. Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, the preservation, Today many museums, besides housing and cataloguing their collections, also cataloguing and communication of their posthumous effects reflect not only their conduct active research programmes as varied and manifold as the sources and historical significance in Germany, but the importance of their music in today’s objects they preserve, ranging from the study of materials to the exploration of international repertoire altogether. Accordingly, one of the tasks of museums is to their provenance. MUSEUMS DEVOTED TO MUSICIANS Germany has some 55 museums and memorial sites with holdings reflecting the life and work of musicians, in most cases composers. These ‘musician muse- ums’ are often located in the places where the artists worked or were born and illuminate their social and cultural surroundings by displaying their personal fur- niture (or furniture from the same period), paintings, busts, memorabilia, musical instruments, autograph scores, letters and other original documents. Frequently their activities are supported by non-profit associations that sometimes also func- tion as the museums’ sponsors. Recent years have witnessed the emergence of new memorial sites, such as the Scharwenka Foundation with its cultural forum, archive and museum in Bad Saarow. Between 2012 and 2014 the house that Xaver Scharwenka built in 1910, and in which he lived to the end of his days, was reconstructed by the community in MMeMemmorial rooroom at thhe Robbertt Schumanna n House in Zwwickkauu conjunction with the Scharwenka Foundation to create the first musician museum 488 489 Music Museums and Musical Instrument Collections | in the state of Brandenburg. It is funded largely from donations, as is its archive with printed sheet music, correspondence and other testaments to the activities of The range of musi- Xaver, Philipp and Walter Scharwenka. Another new facility is the 'Ostrockmuse- cians’ museums um' (Eastern Rock Music Museum) in Kröpelin, which opened in 2015 with a collec- extends from small tion of sound recordings, original instruments and technical equipment from the memorial sites to large former state of East Germany. Also currently planned is a thorough renovation of museums with archives the former residence of Robert and Clara Schumann in Düsseldorf, which will give and research staff. rise to a modern museum devoted to the life and works of these two artists. Some musician museums are accompanied by specialised archives and research institutes to document, preserve and disseminate the artist’s musical legacy, to collect and study manuscripts and other sources, to issue complete editions, sep- arate prints and publication series, to encourage publications and to carry out digitisation projects. Institutes of this type with an international presence include the Beethoven House in Bonn, the Leipzig Bach Archive, the Handel House in Halle, the Robert Schumann House in Zwickau, the Richard Strauss Institute in Gar- misch-Partenkirchen and the Richard Wagner Museum with national archive and research centre in Bayreuth. Many private individuals, societies, foundations and citizens’ initiatives have de- voted themselves to the preservation and rebuilding of historical sites where im- portant musicians formerly lived and worked. They seek support for their projects from the public sector. The Weimar Bach Society, for example, has undertaken to build a memorial site in Weimar above the extant renaissance cellar of Bach’s former place of residence. In this way the society hopes to create greater public awareness of Weimar’s significance as Bach’s place of employment, to strengthen the residents’ sense of identity with their city and to appeal to tourists. These two viewpoints – to create a sense of cultural identity and to exploit the market for cultural tourism – are of key importance to many musician museums. Opposite page, top: the Richard Wagner Museum in the composer’s former place of residence in Bayreuth Middle: the Kurt Weill Centre, located in Feininger’s ‘master house’ in Dessau-Rosslau, the composer’s birthplace Bottom left: the Heinrich Schütz House in Weissenfels, the composer’s former place of residence Bottom right: the Beethoven House in Bonn, the building where the composer was born 490 491 Music Museums and Musical Instrument Collections | Fig. 1 | Museums, archives and research institutes focusing on particular musicians In an effort to achieve greater public visi- Source: German Music Information Centre, 2018 bility, many musician museums have re- vised the way they display their holdings and modernised and/or enlarged their premises. The recent construction or re- Johannes Brahms Gesamtausgabe, Forschungsstelle (Kiel) modelling of buildings reflects a change Brahmshaus (Heide) both in museum education and in the Brahms-Institut an der Musikhochschule Lübeck MUSEUMS, ARCHIVES AND RESEARCH INSTITUTES importance attached to these buildings Hasse-Institut (Hamburg) FOCUSING ON PARTICULAR KomponistenQuartier Hamburg: MUSICIANS today. The Wagner Museum in Bayreuth, Brahms-Museum, C. P. E. Bach-Museum, Johann Adolf Hasse-Museum, Telemann-Museum, to take an example, has remodelled the Fanny & Felix Mendelssohn Museum, Mendelssohn-Archiv, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Museum, exhibition Gustav Mahler-Museum Preußischer Kulturbesitz Bernd Alois Zimmermann-Gesamtausgabe (Berlin) Villa Wahnfried and created, along- Ramones Museum Berlin Arbeitsstelle Andreas Romberg Frida-Leider-Zentrum (Berlin) Archive, special library Universität Vechta Simon-Mayr-Gesamtausgabe (Berlin) Kurt-Schwaen- side Wagner’s residence, a translucent Hanns Eisler Gesamtausgabe (Berlin) Archiv C. P. E. Bach-Ausstellung (Berlin) Museen Viadrina Research institute, research Hans-Sommer-Archiv (Berlin) (Frankfurt (Oder)) department, complete edition glass-and-steel museum in sharp archi- Arnold Schönberg Gesamt- ausgabe, Forschungsstelle (Berlin) Carl-Philipp-Emanuel-Bach-Archiv Zentrum für Telemann-Pflege (Frankfurt (Oder)) tectural contrast to the neighbouring und -Forschung (Magdeburg) More than one category within Kurt-Weill-Zentrum Scharwenka Kulturforum, Musikermuseum und Carl-Maria-von-Weber- (Dessau-Roßlau) Scharwenka-Archiv (Bad Saarow) a museum Gesamtausgabe (Detmold) villa. The aim of the museum is to turn Bach-Gedenkstätte im Schloss Köthen Beatles Museum (Halle (Saale)) Note: The map shows those facilities organ- Roy Black Archiv Carl-Loewe-Haus (Wettin-Löbejün) Bach-Archiv Leipzig, (Dortmund) the aura of Wagner’s place of work and Schumann-Gedenkstätte Johann-Joachim-Quantz- Forschungsinstitut – Bibliothek – Museum ised in the working group ‘Music Museums Düsseldorf 1 3 Schumann-Haus Leipzig in Germany’ as well as other publicly or pri- Robert-Schumann- Ausstellung (Scheden) Heinrich-Schütz-Haus Villa Teresa vately funded institutions that preserve ex- residence into a living experience while Forschungsstelle Heinrich-Schütz-Archiv, Forschungsstelle Gesamtausgabe Max-Bruch-Autographen- Spohr Museum Weißenfels 2 4 (Coswig) hibitions on particular musicians. Archives, sammlung Stiftung Zanders (Kassel) für mitteldeutsche Musikgeschichte des (Düsseldorf) Bach-Stamm- 16. bis 18. Jahrhunderts (Dresden) research institutes and research