28.09.2011
Museum Europäischer Kulturen
For everything we've ever wanted to know about the Museum of European Cultures… Director Konrad Vanja has the answers.
On 9 December 2011 the Museum of European Cultures will reopen in the Bruno Paul building after a 2-year renovation period - what wishes and expectations for the future of your museum will you have on the big day?
We are delighted to be able to present the collections and rotating exhibitions in newly renovated rooms for our visitors to enjoy. The renovations have revitalized our museum: the exhibition areas and the courtyard are once again an experience in themselves, thanks to the new architectural solutions devised by BHBVT architects (Busmann Haberer Bohl Vennes Tebroke). They are spacious and allow us to launch a comprehensive series of parallel cultural events.
What does the Museum of European Cultures, which brings the diversity of European cultures together under one roof, have to offer as a contribution to finding an overall European identity?
With our exhibitions and the annual 'European Month of Culture' we help bring our visitors face-to-face with the history of Europe and its various cultures, their diversity, the things they have in common and the things that are unique to them. This helps change their perspective on Europe, which itself can effect change.
Which object in the collection is especially dear to you?
Without a doubt our 'Weihnachtsberg'-a giant nativity scene set in a hillside town, dating from the 19th century. With more than 300 figures, many of which that move, it depicts the life of Christ from his birth in the manger to his death on the cross and even his resurrection at Easter. Unlike conventional nativity scenes it is on show all year long, and due to its size and sheer number of figures, most likely ranks as one of the most important anywhere in Europe. As an object, it is itself the result of a meeting of European cultures: between Protestant Saxony and Catholic Bohemia. In its new home in Dahlem, the 'Weihnachtsberg' will be on show for people to admire all year round.
You're bound to have travelled to many countries in Europe; is there a particular culture that fascinates you above all others?
What fascinates me is the cosmopolitan, an educated, bourgeois way of life, which transcends national boundaries in its enthusiasm for the everyday, for language, literature, art and music, from both the past and the present day. Coming across this world of shared knowledge in Warsaw or Cracow, in Paris or Bassano del Grappa is one of the joys of travelling: you're at home wherever you are in Europe.
European cultures are continually evolving, and your collection has to do justice to this fact too. But how do you go about bridging the gap between a stylish Venetian gondola from a hundred years ago and a Berlin döner kebab?
A museum evolves along with its collections and the questions it raises. The migration of people and the transfer of cultural artefacts are as old as humankind itself. In this way the present builds on much older traditions and shows that key places, such as Venice, were as innovative in the past as 'Turkish' Kreuzberg is for today's society.