Museums of Aschaffenburg

The city museums Aschaffenburg today comprise four houses: the Stiftsmuseum, the Castle Museum, the Gentil House and the Museum of Nature. The city collection of antiquities was founded in 1854. But some objects in the museum were collected by members of the chapter St. Peter and Alexander as early as 1770. The Museum of Nature includes collections of the former academy of foresters as well as important private collections from the 19th century. So the museums can look back on a long tradition. The motherhouse of the city museums, the Stiftsmuseum in the former chapter house, was reopened 1994 after several years of restoring the house and reshaping the exhibition. The city museums organise special exhibitions, events and a number of activities, especially for children.

http://www.aschaffenburg.de/wDeutsch/tourismus/start/museen.php  

 

Stiftsmuseum

Museum in the Convent House

Stiftsplatz 1a, Aschaffenburg, 63739, Germany

Phone +49 / (0)6021 / 330 - 463

Fax +49 / (0)6021 / 38674 - 30

http://www.aschaffenburg.de/wDeutsch/tourismus/museum/museum_01.php

email: Stadt-AB.Museum@t-online.de

Opening hours:

We-Mo 10.00-13.00 & 14.00-17.00

Admissions:

Adults: DM 5.- Children / Reduced: DM 2.-

The medieval convent of St. Peter and Alexander today is home of the cities archaeological collections and the collections of medieval and religious art.

The Stiftsmuseum is the oldest of the four City-Museums of Aschaffenburg. The building itself played a prominent role in Aschaffenburg history, as the former convent house of the convent of St. Peter and Alexander, founded about 950 AD. The convent was a dominant factor in the development of Aschaffenburg, until it was secularised in 1803. Since 1861 the building has become the "mother-house" of the City Museums. After extensive works of renovation and restoration from 1986 onward the museum was reopened in 1994. Today here are displayed the archaeological finds from the Bavarian Lower Main Area from the Neanderthal period to recent times. Especially precious are the finds from the Early Medieval (Merowingian) period. Although Aschaffenburg always stayed just outside the Roman Empire, with the river Main as the boarder, most Roman finds of the region are displayed here, for historic reasons. Archaeological finds and art objects of high value are devoted to the Covent St. Peter and Alexander. Traces of the history of the building itself from Romanic to Baroque times are visible while visiting the collections. Medieval and Renaissance sculpture, like two Romanic crosses or a relief with the Christmas story by Tilman Riemenschneider, are highlights in the art sector. In the treasury the oldest existing chessboard of Germany is displayed, a precious piece of art made from jasper, mountain crystal, modelled and painted clay figures and enamelled silver and gold sheets. Religious art, especially from neighbouring monasteries, and old German table paintings are to complete the collections. Here you will find paintings from the school of Lucas Cranach and his successors. Since 1996 here also is displayed the "Aschaffenburg Table", a painting from about 1250 showing Christ as judge accompanied by St. Mary, St. John Baptist, St. Peter and St. Alexander. The high quality painting was produced for the high altar of the neighbouring church of the convent St. Peter and Alexander and reused as a floorboard in the convent house at 1621. There it was found during the restoration works in 1986. Conservation took 10 years, but now it is an absolute highlight of the museum.

 

Schlossmuseum

Castel Museum

Schlossplatz 4, Aschaffenburg, 63739, Germany

Phone +49 / (0)6021 / 38674 - 0

Fax +49 / (0)6021 / 38674 - 30

http://www.aschaffenburg.de/wDeutsch/tourismus/museum/museum_02.php

email: Stadt-AB.Museum@t-online.de

Opening hours:

01.04-30.09: Tu-Su 09.00-18.00

01.10-31.03: Tu-Su 10.00-16.00

Admissions:

Adults DM 5.-, reduced DM 4.-

The castle Johannisburg was residence of the archbishops of Mainz, who acted as well as imperial Lord Chancellor and prime elector. The big medieval castle was mostly destroyed in the "Markgräfler War" in 1552. Under the archbishop Johann Schweikart von Kronberg the castle was completely rebuilt from 1605-1614, only the medieval stronghold was integrated in the new, late renaissance castle. The architect of the powerful four-winged building with its prominent towers in the corners was Georg Ridinger. Although there were some alterations done in the classicistic era, and after severe damages in World War II, it still resembles the best example of a pure late renaissance castle in Germany.

Although the visitor hardly will recognise, in fact he visits three museums at once: the State Gallery, the exhibition rooms of the state administration of Bavarian castles, gardens and lakes (owner of the building) and the exhibition of the city museums. The State Gallery contains the former collection of the archbishops of Mainz, including the great collection of paintings by Lucas Cranach and his school. The exhibition rooms of the state administration of castles include reconstructed rooms from the classicistic era and the time as a royal Bavarian castle after 1814, paintings from Aschaffenburg and its environ and a great collection of cork models, produced by father and son May in the late 18th and early 19th century. This collection of cork models from antique Rome is quite exceptional, not only for its size, but as the only complete collection of German cork models of comparable quality to the celebrated Italian models. The city museums include an exhibition to the local history of Aschaffenburg, a vast collection of excellent faience, stone ware and porcelain, rich collections of tin ware, glass an furniture. Of special interest is the collection of stoneware from the manufactory Damm at Aschaffenburg from the 19th century, which reproduced the famous figures of the porcelain manufactory of Hoechst. Finally there is to find an important collection of classical modern painting, especially Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Christian Schad. The city museums also take care for the State Collection of Graphics, the former collection of the archbishops of Mainz, which is not permanently on display. In the castle you will also find the state "Court Library", the former library of the archbishops of Mainz and the Convent St. Peter and Alexander in Aschaffenburg, with most precious illuminated handwritings. Small temporal exhibitions are shown regularly to provide access to these treasures. The castles chapel includes an extraordinary altar of alabaster, created by Hans Juncker between 1609-1614. The castle is surrounded by a beautiful garden, with decorative buildings and the Pompejanum, a one by one reconstruction of a roman house from Pompeji, built under the Bavarian king Ludwig I. in the early 19th century.

 

Gentilhaus

Gentil House

Grünewaldstrasse 20, Aschaffenburg, 63739, Germany

Phone +49 / (0)6021 / 38674 - 14

Fax +49 / (0)6021 / 38674 - 30

http://www.aschaffenburg.de/wDeutsch/tourismus/museum/museum_04.php

Opening hours:

April-October, by arrangement

Admissions:

DM 13.- (incl. guided tour)

Villa built by a private art collector in the style of artists houses of the early 20th century.

The Gentil house was built 1922-1923 by Anton Gentil, an industrialist who also was a devoted private collector and patron of arts. The house was built according to his own plans in a very personal style. He and familiar artists heavily decorated the interior. The house was specially built for his vast collections, but he also inhabited the house for a longer period. The house and the collection were inherited by the city of Aschaffenburg in 1951. It has still preserved its very private and personal character. Therefore access is restricted to guided tours in groups up to 10 people. Tours can be arranged by the city museums on request. The collection includes medieval sculpture, paintings of the renaissance as well as paintings by artists patronised by Anton Gentil as well as nativity figurines, applied arts (specially stone ware, faience and glass) and some high quality eastern Asiatic statues. Some highlights of the collection of medieval sculpture and a Cranach painting are exhibited in the Stiftsmuseum Aschaffenburg.

 

Naturwissenschaftliches Museum

Museum of Nature

Schönborner Hof, Wermbachstrasse 15, Aschaffenburg, 63739, Germany

Phone +49 / (0)6021 / 330 - 6223

Fax +49 / (0)6021 / 38674 - 30

http://www.aschaffenburg.de/wDeutsch/tourismus/museum/museum_03.php

Opening hours:

Thu-Tu 09.00-12.00 and 13.00-16.00

Admissions:

Adults DM 2.-, reduced DM 1.-

The Museum of Natural Science is situated in the Schönborner Hof, court of a noble family from the 17th century. It includes geology and mineralogy of the region, information on the local environment and special entomological collections.

The Schönborner Hof was built as a residence of the Schönborn family between 1673 and 1678. The family was very prominent in Aschaffenburg, especially during the 17th and 18th century. Two members of the family became archbishops of Mainz and others were governors in Aschaffenburg. The collections of the Museum for Natural Sciences originate from the collections of the royal Bavarian Academy for Foresters and private collections of the 19th century. Most famous is the entomological collection, including one of the greatest collections of bugs. Of special interest is the geological and mineralogical exhibition. The museum also includes a number of dioramas of the local environment. In the right wing of the building you may also find the city archive with a library for regional history and periodic exhibitions.

 


 

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© 2005 Pathways to Cultural Landscapes

With the support of the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union