The Fridericianum is a museum in Kassel, Germany. Built in 1779, it is one of the oldest public museums in Europe.[1] Since 1955 the quinquennial art festival documenta has been centred on the site,[2] with some artworks displayed on Friedrichsplatz, in front of the building.[3]
The exhibition building itself was fully renovated by 1982. Ever since 1988, Fridericianum has continually hosted changing exhibitions of contemporary art. Since June 2013 Susanne Pfeffer has been director of the Fridericianum.
History
Museum
Having sold soldiers to the British, Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel used his riches to build the world's first public museum building, which was to stand on the recently laid out parade square in Kassel. The Fridericianum was designed by Huguenot architect Simon Louis du Ry for Landgrave Friedrich II and opened in 1779 as the world's first purpose-built public museum.[4] An encyclopedic museum, the Fridericianum originally housed the state library of Hesse, the art collections of the Hessian landgraves, including the "Modern Statue Gallery", as well as a medal, machinery and watch room, a print room, a manuscripts room and map gallery, scientific instruments, cork models of Roman architecture, and wax figures of historic Hessian landgraves. Europe's first public museum, by the end of the 19th century the museum held one of the largest collections of watches and clocks in the world, and with the 1926 changing of the spelling of the town to Kassel, the name became synonymous to licensed clock making. The Fridericianum also contained a library built to house 100,000 volumes, and was connected to the medieval Zwehrenturm tower, which had been made into an observatory.[5]
Parliamentary
When, in the early 19th century, Napoleon's youngest brother Jérôme Bonaparte became King of Westphalia and Kassel was named the capital of the kingdom, the Fridericianum was repurposed as the first parliamentary building in Germany. With Jérôme's expulsion in 1813, Fridericianum was returned to its original purpose as a museum. During that time the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, were employed at the library.
Library
With the beginning of Prussian rule in 1866, the museum's collections were gradually transferred to the Prussian center of power in Berlin, and in 1913 Fridericianum ceased to function as a museum, retaining only its status as a state library. The Fridericianum was heavily damaged in World War II, during the bombing raids on Kassel in 1941 and 1943. After the war, all that remained of the Fridericianum and library were the enclosing walls and the Zwehrenturm library.[5] The surviving books were moved into the Kassel University Library.
documenta
In 1955, the first documenta exhibition, founded by Arnold Bode, took place in the provisionally restored Fridericianum building. Since then documenta has been held every five years in the Fridericianum, which was fully renovated by 1982.
Exhibition hall
The Fridericianum began hosting its own temporary exhibitions as well in 1988, opening with Veit Loers' exhibition "Schlaf der Vernunft" (1988), which made reference to Fridericianum's original purpose, juxtaposing museum objects from the Enlightenment period with those of contemporary art.
In 1998 René Block took over from Loers as Artistic Director of the Fridericianum, focusing on the supposed peripheries of the global art world.
Following Block, the Fridericianum was directed from 2008-2011 by Rein Wolfs, who organized the first exhibition of Danh Vo's "We the People", for which the artist recast a life-size Statue of Liberty from 30 tons of copper sheets.[6]
Since June 2013 Susanne Pfeffer has been director of the Fridericianum.[5] Pfeffer presented an exhibition trilogy "Speculations on Anonymous Materials" (2013), "nature after nature" (2014) and "Inhuman" (2015). In 2015 she dedicated a large-scale retrospective to the American experimental filmmaker Paul Sharits. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of documenta, Pfeffer organised a retrospective of the Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers, featuring works from all of the artist's creative periods.[citation needed]
Hesse or Hessia, officially the State of Hesse, is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Darmstadt and Kassel. With an area of 21,114.73 square kilometers and a population of over six million, it ranks seventh and fifth, respectively, among the sixteen German states. Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Germany's second-largest metropolitan area, is mainly located in Hesse.
Kassel is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, in central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. The former capital of the state of Hesse-Kassel has many palaces and parks, including the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kassel is also known for the documenta exhibitions of contemporary art. Kassel has a public university with 25,000 students (2018) and a multicultural population.
This article is about the history of Hesse. Hesse is a state in Germany.
Documenta is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany.
James Lee Byars was an American conceptual artist and performance artist specializing in installations and sculptures, as well as a self-considered mystic. He was best known for his use of personal esoteric motifs, and his creative persona that has been described as 'half dandified trickster and half minimalist seer'.
Marcel Broodthaers was a Belgian poet, filmmaker, and visual artist with a highly literate and often witty approach to creating art works. From 1943 to 1951 he was a member of a Communist party.
Schloss Wilhelmshöhe is a Neoclassical palace located in Bad Wilhelmshöhe, a part of Kassel, Germany. It was built for Landgrave Wilhelm (William) IX of Hesse in the late 18th century. Emperor Wilhelm II made extensive use of it as a summer residence and personal retreat.
Ralf Winkler, alias A. R. Penck, who also used the pseudonyms Mike Hammer, T. M., Mickey Spilane, Theodor Marx, "a. Y." or just "Y" was a German painter, printmaker, sculptor, and jazz drummer. A neo-expressionist, he became known for his visual style, reminiscent of the influence of primitive art.
The Universitätsbibliothek Kassel is a library located in the city of Kassel, Germany. Composed of the collections of the former Landesbibliothek and Murhardsche Bibliothek der Stadt Kassel as well as that of the Kassel University library, amongst the library's holdings is the manuscript of the 9th-century German poem, the Hildebrandslied.
Cornberg is a municipality in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany. It is the district's smallest municipality.
Anna of Prussia was a Prussian princess as the granddaughter of King Frederick William III of Prussia. She was the second wife of Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel.
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe is a landscape park in Kassel, Germany. The area of the park is 2.4 square kilometres, making it the largest European hillside park, and second largest park on a hill slope in the world. Construction of the Bergpark, or "mountain park", began in 1689 at the behest of the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel and took about 150 years. The park is open to the public today. Since 2013, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its monumental Baroque architecture and its unique fountains and water features.
7000 Oaks – City Forestation Instead of City Administration is a work of land art by the German artist Joseph Beuys. It was first publicly presented in 1982 at documenta 7.
Kunsthochschule Kassel is a college of fine arts in Kassel, Germany. Founded in 1777, it is a semi-autonomous department of the University of Kassel.
The Ottoneum in Kassel, Germany was the first theater building built in Germany and is now a museum of natural history.
The Neue Galerie is an art museum in Kassel in the state of Hesse, in Germany. The building was constructed between 1871 and 1877 as a museum for works of the Old Masters. The building was damaged and burned out on 22 October 1943 in a devastating air raid carried out on the orders of Winston Churchill. The 60 most important works were brought to Vienna, and were returned in 1956. The building and large parts of the collection were lost. The museum was reopened with its present name in 1976, and a large renovation was completed in 2011.
The Orangerie is an orangery in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. It was built under Landgrave Charles between 1703 and 1711. Since then, it forms the northern corner of the Karlsaue park. Today it is used as an astronomy and physical cabinet.
Bellevue Palace in Kassel was built in 1714 for Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Originally the building served as an Observatory. It became a residence, and then part of Bellevue Castle, which was later destroyed. Until its closure for structural reasons in 2009, the building housed a museum devoted to the Grimm Brothers, which has now moved to the Grimmwelt Kassel.
St Martin's Church is a Protestant parish church in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. It is also the preaching-church of the bishop of the Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck. It is in the Gothic style and was begun in 1364 and completed in 1462, dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. It became a Protestant church in 1524, when Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse converted to Protestantism. From the 16th century until the end of the 18th century it was the burial place for the landgraves of Hesse.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kassel, Germany.
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