Frankfurt’s treasure chest
A visit to this sight is the culmination of all trips in Hesse or trips to Frankfurt: The Städel Museum on Schaumainkai is one of the most important art museums in Europe and houses a collection that ranges from the Middle Ages to the modern age.
From spice dealer to art patron
The museum owes its name to the founder Johann Friedrich Städel, who started out as a spice dealer and made a fortune as a banker. Städel’s love was art, which he collected all over Europe and promoted in his hometown. On the basis of its extensive collection, the museum was founded as the Städelsches Kunstinstitut and finally moved to the magnificent neo-renaissance building on today’s museum bank towards the end of the 19th century.
Over 4000 paintings, over 100,000 graphics
Nowhere in the region do visitors get such a comprehensive insight into the history of art in Europe: works of the Italian Renaissance can be admired here, as can Rhineland masters and the important representatives of French Impressionism. All important styles of modern and contemporary art find their place in the new extension, from Franz Marc to Georg Baselitz, from Pablo Picasso to Gerhard Richter. The Städel Museum’s extensive inventory of drawings and graphics is one of the most important graphic collections in the country.
Drawing with light
For several years now, photography has also been given its due place in the Städel Museum. The extensive collection not only offers an overview of the history of ‘light drawing’ from its beginnings to the present, but also shows in changing exhibitions the points of contact between painting, photography and sculpture and photography as an art form of equal value.
Art for everyone
Be it for a short visit to one of the changing special exhibitions or to linger in the large-scale permanent exhibition, for half an hour of enjoying art or a day trip under the sign of beauty: the Städel Museum is Frankfurt’s first address for lovers of art and culture.
Documentation Center Nazi Party Rally Grounds
The gigantomania of an unfortunate time in German history comes to life in the Nuremberg Documentation Center of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. At the place that served the National Socialists as a parade ground and where a huge congress hall was to be built, a documentation was housed that UNESCO found worthy to include in its list for the “International Year for a Culture of Peace”.
Of power and megalomania
More than a quarter of a million people visit this center every year. With various themes and exhibitions, it is intended to commemorate the era when the Nazis chose Nuremberg as the location for their party congresses. The pursuit of power and megalomania led to the plans for an oversized congress hall. It was supposed to resemble the Roman Colosseum and, once completed, would seat 50,000 people. But it shouldn’t come to that because the Second World War stopped the construction work.
Opening in November 2001
Instead, the unfinished building was given a new task. On November 4, 2001, the then Federal President Johannes Rau opened the Documentation Center of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Since then, the complex has been seen as a place of remembrance of the time of the Nazi regime. Since a number of the remains of the former parade ground were placed under monument protection as early as 1973, the opportunity arose to use the unfinished construction of the congress hall. The key to this was the exhibition “Fascination and Violence – Nuremberg and National Socialism”, which was set up in the so-called “Zeppelin Grandstand”.
Place of gigantic marches
The documentation center’s permanent exhibition is looking for an explanation of why the National Socialist mass spectacle led to the people of that time being enthusiastic about gigantic parades. An introductory film is intended to help visitors understand what cannot be understood by today’s standards. The history of the site is presented in exhibits, and viewers are invited on a hike from Hitler’s seizure of power to the Nuremberg Trials. The exhibition is dedicated to the “birth of horror” in a place steeped in history.
International Maritime Museum
The International Maritime Museum is located in the middle of Hamburg’s Speicherstadt. Housed in the former Kaispeicher B, this museum shows all kinds of impressive exhibits from the history of international shipping.
The building itself is a bit of a sensation. The ten-story Kaispeicher B was built in 1878/1879 and is the oldest storage building in Hamburg that still exists. But where goods such as rum, wine, tea, grain and tobacco were once stored, contemporary witnesses of maritime history can be found today. On a total of seven levels, which are barrier-free thanks to modern technology, visitors to the Hamburg International Maritime Museum receive a highly exciting insight into the world of original and modern seafaring.
Exciting insights into the history of shipping
On a total of seven of the so-called floors of the historic warehouse there are a large number of interesting exhibits that allow visitors to immerse themselves in the history of seafaring. There is a lot to learn about famous explorers and all kinds of secrets about navigation are revealed. The visitors can see clearly how life took place on the historic naval ships and what dangers the ship’s crews actually exposed themselves to.
Diverse exhibits
The international maritime museum Hamburg shows the history of merchant shipping from the beginnings to the modern age and provides information on the development of cruises and numerous ports. In addition to a lot of exciting information about shipbuilding and mechanical engineering, there is also extremely interesting insights into energy technology. The areas of marine research and fisheries are not neglected either. And art lovers are sure to get their money’s worth in the picture gallery and treasury or at one of the changing exhibitions.
A visit to the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg should not be missed when visiting the Hanseatic city. Because hardly any other house can offer such authentic impressions in a maritime atmosphere.
