New splendour for the Goethe-Museum

On June the 20th the Goethe-Museum in Frankfurt was reopened

By Lore Kämper

100 years ago the museum adjacent to the Goethe-Haus was founded. After four years of restructuring and renovation the museum`s four levels have been turned into a gallery. Thanks to these works of restructuring the museum has gained about 1.000 square metres extra space.

Frankfurt am Main (pia) During the works of restructuring one dismaying surprise after the other struck those responsible . Soon it became clear that only a little modernisation would not be enough. The whole structure showed strains of old age. The ceilings were in danger to crumble and so were the stairs. There had to be a premium on reinforcing the whole building to make it save for the future. Moreover, one had to make sure that the proceedings at the site did not cause damage to the adjacent Goethe-Haus.

After nearly four years of restructuring the Goethe-Museum is now fit for reopening. The ceremony planned for this occasion will be the first big event in the run-up to the Goethe anniversary year 1999, when Frankfurt will celebrate Goethe `s 250th birthday. When on the 20th of June 1998 the museum will be hosting a ceremonial act to mark its new start, thoughts will be dedicated to the institution`s century old history. It was founded in 1897 as ´Gallery of the Goethe era´. The inaugural speech will be held by the historian Jachim Fest in presence of the Federal President Roman Herzog.

The museum situated in the ´Großer Hirschgraben/Am Salzhaus` has become better light and more spacious, while in the past it made a rather cramped impression. Since for reasons of statics the stairs had to be completely replaced, the architect decided to insert a whole now structure connecting the Goethe-Haus to the museum. This new piece of architecture is made of sandstone and glass. Its facade is kept simple and at the same time transparent.

The fromer inner courtyard has become the heart-piece of the museum. The square, framed by a row of sandstones, has been incorporated into the building. But although closed by a ceiling it has retained its Atrium-like atmosphere. The courtyard which can accomodate 250 visitors will be used to host events. Exhibitions in this place have now become possible as a glass-roof shields off rain and wind. Particularly nice are the wooden anti-fire windows - apparently their nice make-up does not reveal their robust fire-resistency. But other parts of the museum have been given a favourable lifting, too. The lounge which will be home to the tills and the souvenier-shop has been rid of its cramped character. Visitors pass through a high glass-door to enter the book-store.

What has remained unaltered is the sequence of four exhibition rooms of different sizes, which soon will witness the return of books, statues and paintings. Of the latter Goethe`s ´June`will be one. Floor and panelling are of light maple, while the walls are painted in four different colours: From dark red, blue and green right to an elegant grey, all colours are carefully chosen to underpin the silent warmth which makes the rooms distinct.

Technical appliances like light switches and radiators are well hid from the visitors´ view. ´Yet these rooms are teeming with technical stuff`, says Dietrich Eckhardt, responsible for public relations at the ´Freies Deutsches Hochstift`, the foundation operating the museum. The climate in the chambers is automatically adjusted by a technical system which thus helps create excellent conditions for paintings and sculptures. There is a special lighting system in place to create the impression of natural daylight. A special security gadget has been introduced to secure precious paintings. If one piece of art is touched the alarm will go off. Should the perpetrator continue to fiddle around with the picture the museum`s doors will be closed and locked automatically - the thief thus can`t escape with his booty.

 

On the first floor a small courtyard has been created. Visitors will find a reading room equipped with book-shelves and card-index boxes. Next to the lift a strip of wall has been left unpainted. A glance on the original stone wall is enough to see the poor quality of the building material which had been used to reerect the building in the immediate post-war years.

Thanks to the renovation the museum has won an extra 1000 square meters. This additonal space will be most beneficial for the storage room in the two storey basement. Seemingly endless rows of revolving shelves are expected to provide space for years to come. When excavation work was undertaken in the basement, the foundations of an even older house came to light, the ´Haus zum grünen Laub`, which used to be an old brewery. Today, the museum`s basement is home to a lot of high-tech installations, one of which is the highly sensitive fire-alarm.

The museum`s collection contains about 120.000 books, 16.000 pieces of graphic art, 120.000 hand written pieces and around 5.000 paintings. During the period of renovation the pictures were on display in the Städel in Frankfurt and in Cologne`s Wallraff-Richartz-Museum of Cologne.

´A whole bunch of reasons`, says Ernst Dietrich Eckhardt, made the museum`s renovation appear a dire necessity. 24 Million Mark had to be invested in the brush-up of the building, which without the renovation would not have been able to meet the ever more stringent fire-security regulations. Also offices of staff were insufficient and storage facilities were largely non-existent. Books and pieces of art had, therefore, to be stored in corridors. Also, the only conference room had space only for a maximum of 80 persons. Events, therefore, were handicapped by lack of space. The expenses of the restructuring works will be shared between the city of Frankfut, the state of Hesse and the federal government in Bonn. The `Freies Deutsches Hochstift` adds the sum of 1,5 Million Mark, largely made up of volunatry contributions.

 

Further information available from ´Freies Deutsches Hochstift`, Tel. 069/13880-246 or 13880-0.