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The Kunstgewerbemuseum, or Museum of Decorative Arts, is an internationally important museum of the decorative arts in Berlin, Germany, part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums). The collection is split between the Kunstgewerbemuseum building at the Kulturforum and Köpenick Palace
History It was founded in 1868 as the Deutsches Gewerbe-Museum zu Berlin, and originally had a teaching institute as well as a public museum. The collection grew significantly in the 1870s,Barbara Mundt, Die deutschen Kunstgewerbemuseen im 19. Jahrhundert, Prestel, 1974 and it was renamed Kunstgewerbemuseum in 1879. In 1881 it relocated into the Martin-Gropius-Bau – where Priam's Treasure was also on display for a time – and in 1921 it moved into the Stadtschloss.Heute mal Extremitäten Tobias Timm, Die Zeit, 31 August 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
Parts of the collection were destroyed in World War II,Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin State Museums. and the surviving items were split between East and West Berlin. The Eastern collection moved into Köpenick Palace in 1963, while the Western exhibits moved first into Charlottenburg Palace, then into the new museum building in the KulturforumKunstgewerbemuseum Kulturforum. in 1985, built by Rolf Gutbrod.
Collection and exhibition The museum houses a collection of decorative arts, including objects from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Decorative artifacts in Baroque and Rococo style are complemented by knick-knack in Jugendstil and Art Deco. The museum will only exhibit classic design. The museum occupies the Baroque palace of Köpenick and the Kulturforum which was completed in 1985.
There is a very important collection of Late Antique objects in many media. The items from the Middle Ages include a large number of gold reliquaries including the reliquary arm of St. Caesarius.Martina Junghans: Die Armreliquiare in Deutschland vom 11. bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts, Dissertation Bonn (2000), Bonn 2002, Kat.-Nr. 1Dietrich Kötzsche, Der Welfenschatz im Berliner Kunstgewerbemuseum, Mann, 1973Bilderhefte der Staatlichen Museen, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Volumi 20-21, Mann, 1967 The Renaissance is represented by silverware from the city councillors of Lüneburg,Bestandskatalog des Kunstgewerbemuseums Berlin, Volume 5, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Staatliche Museen, Kunstgewerbe Schloss Charlottenburg, 1971 and bronze sculptures, tapestries, furniture, Venetian glasses and maiolicas from the Italian princely courts.Museum of Decorative Arts
The Baroque era is represented by faiences from Delft,Meissen: Steinzeug und Porzellan des 18. Jahrhunderts, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, Staatliche Museen Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 1980 and glass items.Monika Bierschenk, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin. Kunsthandwerk vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Berlin 1989 There is also European porcelain, particularly from Meissen and the Royal Manufacturer of Berlin, and decorative crockery from the rococo, classicist, historicist and Art Nouveau styles. The "New Collection" of 20th century craftwork includes industrially-manufactured products.
See also Cloth of St Gereon, the second oldest European wall tapestry still existing
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External links
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