Grassimuseum

As Grassi Museum is now a complex of buildings on Locust Place in Leipzig called, the (formerly Museum of Decorative Arts and the Museum of Arts and Crafts ), the Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig, the Museum of Applied Art and the Museum of Musical Instruments, University of Leipzig is home. Other forms of the name are the Grassi Museum Leipzig, museums Grassi, New Grassi Museum (as opposed to the first so- named building, and today the city library below).

History

The name derives from the Grassi Museum Franz Dominic Grassi, a Leipzig businessman of Italian origin, from. After his death in 1880 he bequeathed the city a fortune of more than two million marks were realized by the numerous construction projects. In the years 1892 to 1895 was on the Place Royal (now Wilhelm- Leuschner-Platz ) was built in the old Leipzig Grassi Museum. Originally it housed the Museum of Ethnology in Leipzig and the Museum of Arts and Crafts Leipzig, today is the Leipzig city library in this building.

In addition to the Grassi Museum and the Gewandhaus and the Mendebrunnen from the assets left by Grassi were built.

The Grassi Museum was included in the book published in 2001 Blue Book. The Blue Book is a list of nationally important cultural institutions in East Germany and currently consists of 20 so-called cultural beacons.

New museum building

The driving force for a replacement for the outgrown old Grassi Museum was Richard Graul ( Museum Director 1896-1929 ). At the suggestion Grauls was the competition brief for a competition for a new museum building, whose construction costs could be covered by the Heritage Grassi.

As winner of the competition for a New Grassi Museum on locust place went out the Leipzig architects Purpose & Voigt. The urban draft, in which the Grassi Museum should be the starting point for a city expansion towards the east, was a native of city architect Hubert Ritter. The new order several courts membered complex was built in the years 1925 to 1929 catenary knight on the former site of the "old" Johannishospital ( 1278-1928 ). The building, with stylistic echoes of New Objectivity and Art Deco is considered one of the few German museum buildings from the period of the Weimar Republic. The complex has a total of 27,000 square feet of floor space. His wings spread out to between two arterial roads ( Dresdner Straße and the Prager Straße ). Originally they were aligned to the 1963 blown-up St. John's Church.

In building the three Museums Museum of Musical Instruments, University of Leipzig, Leipzig Museum of Ethnology and the Museum of Applied Arts (Leipzig) are housed since opening.

In 1943, the New Grassi Museum during an air raid was hit hard, tens of thousands of objects from the collections burned, the rebuilding began in 1947, 1954 first exhibitions were reopened. Of 1981 there was an accident of the heating system, which had a four-year setting of the exhibition operation result. Finally, the Grassi Museum in the years 2001-2005 has been completely restored. It was decided to use a more cost-effective to handle art museum, and then removes the former window of the facade, which meant a serious interference with the listed substance. The end of 2005 the museum building was reopened. The Museum of Applied Arts ( Leipzig Museum of Decorative Arts ) On December 1, 2007 then reopened after 7 years of restoration.

Grassimesse

Richard Graul founded in 1920 a museum's sales fair, which became known as the Grassimesse in history. You should provide the commercial mass-produced, which was offered to large pattern measuring stand up and convince only by quality.

With the introduction of a strict jury principle succeeded Graul to establish the Grassimesse within a short time recognized at European Forum for those arts and crafts elite and include step by step, the artistically -oriented industrial production. Participation in the Grassimesse came like a seal of approval.

Since its foundation in 1997 it takes place annually on the last weekend of October. Present, around 100 exhibitors from home and abroad and sell on the three -day show current works.