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A trip to the year 1842. The great fire rages in Hamburg, the old town is on fire.
The town hall on the Trostbrücke is blown up to prevent the fire from spreading, but in vain: the fire lays the medieval Hanseatic city to rubble and ashes.
To this day, the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte (MHG) tells of the devastation caused by the conflagration - but also of the destruction of old buildings in the course of the reconstruction or for the construction of the Speicherstadt in 1883. Century not in the form of an exhibition, but through the museum building itself.
Numerous historical components from four centuries were integrated into the brick building, built in 1922 according to plans by the building director Fritz Schumacher.
Whether portals, gable tops, reliefs, coats of arms or plastic architectural decorations: the so-called Spolia, now part of museum architecture, come from burned and demolished buildings in the past.
Even during the pandemic-related closure of the house, many spoils can be seen on the museum facade or in the surrounding park.
This invites you to take a walk around the museum - for many the last remaining leisure activity in lockdown.
There is also no need to enter other cultural sites in the city to discover something stimulating from outside.
The facade design of the Kunsthalle and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus also refer programmatically to their respective purpose and history.
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The fact that the components that enrich the Museum of Hamburg History today have survived is thanks to an association from which the museum emerged.
Its members saved what could be saved: Today around 200 historical objects can be found in, on and around the building on Holstenwall.
One of 14 imperial figures on the park side of the museum.
The figures reveal something about the relationship between the Free City and the German Empire
Source: Bertold Fabricius
A portal from the old town hall is emblazoned right next to the main entrance.
Two lions, holding a Hamburg coat of arms in their paws, adorn the archway from 1649. 14 emperor figures on the park side of the museum come from an extension of the same town hall built in 1602.
Recessed in niches here and there, the monarch portraits reveal something about the Free City's relationship to the German Empire: the very emperors chosen were those who had rendered outstanding services to Hamburg.
In addition to Charlemagne, the mythical founder of the city, Friedrich Barbarossa can also be recognized, to whom the city owes its duty-free status to a - albeit forged - document.
The spinning house portal was built into the west facade of the museum.
It was a prison at Alstertor, built in 1666 and burned down in 1842, which served as a reformatory for thieves and women with “indecent lifestyles”.
Under harsh living conditions, the inmates here had to spin flax and wool - in order to be purified through physical work.
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The founder of the building and co-developer of this progressive form of administration of justice was Senator Peter Rentzel, who created a monument for himself with the institution.
The lush ornamentation of the arched portal alludes to the heavenly reward of the founder.
The portal of the spinning house on the west facade of the museum
Source: Bertold Fabricius
Another, richly decorated portal, now installed at the entrance to the museum café, once ennobled a house at Speersort 12/14.
The town's syndic, Vincent Moller vom Baum, has resided here since 1618, whose wealth was symbolized by putti, cornucopia and grapes carrying bunches of fruit.
The Duke Christian Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein lived in the house, which was demolished in 1910;
later it housed a chocolate factory.
A rarity among the spolia of the MHG is a tombstone of the miller's brotherhood from the abandoned Maria Magdalenen cemetery at Dammtor, which, according to the inscription from 1812, is supposed to remind of “laudable millers”.
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While the Museum of Hamburg History brings the city's history to life by incorporating the spoils, the old building of the Hamburger Kunsthalle is a monument to the fine arts with its exterior design.
Around 70 artist figures made of terracotta were integrated into the facade of the brick building erected in 1869 and designed by the architects Georg Theodor Schirrmacher and Hermann von der Hude.
On display are statues by European painters, sculptors and architects.
Around 70 artist figures made of terracotta were integrated into the facade of the Hamburger Kunsthalle
Source: Bertold Fabricius
The portraits of Raphael and Michelangelo stand in gabled niches at the entrance.
Other painters and sculptors from the 16th to 19th centuries are assigned to these figures.
In addition to greats such as Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Karl Friedrich Schinkel, lesser-known artists were also shown.
These include, for example, the Nuremberg sculptor and ore caster Peter Vischer, whose work represents the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
The portrait is based on a bronze self-portrait of Vischer, which shows him as a casting master - with a leather apron and bonnet.
The sculptures, which provide information about the taste in art at the time, were created by eight sculptors who were either connected to Hamburg or the city.
The facade of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus on Kirchenallee also tells cultural history.
The neo-baroque building dates from 1900 and was built according to designs by Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer.
The Viennese architecture firm created around 50 theater buildings all over Europe to meet the growing desire of the bourgeoisie for their own stages.
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus was also founded on a citizens' initiative.
It was no coincidence that Fellner and Helmer copied their plans for the Vienna Volkstheater in Hamburg, which was considered the bourgeois counterpart to the court theater there.
In addition to Goethe and Shakespeare, Kleist, Lessing, Schiller and Grillparzer also adorn the facade of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg
Source: Bertold Fabricius
4 The front of the building is adorned with Corinthian columns.
The serious and the cheerful muse are enthroned in front of the dome, underneath the words “A place for art, a home for the muses”.
The six busts of poets depicting Kleist, Lessing, Schiller, Goethe, Shakespeare and Grillparzer make it clear that the classics awaken to new life here.
The inclusion of the Austrian national poet Franz Grillparzers in the ranks of playwrights was due to the close connection to the theater capital Vienna, from which also Alfred von Berger came, the first director of the house.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG. We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.
Source: WELT AM SONNTAG