The Landhaus as the seat of the city museum
The City Museum is located just a few metres from the Dresden Frauenkirche in the Landhaus. The building was designed by the Saxon court architect Friedrich August Krubsacius (1718 – 1789) between 1770 and 1775 as a »country and tax house« for the Saxon estates. It is characterised by a combination of late baroque, rococo and - for the first time in Dresden – early classicist style elements. The building gained historical significance when the first »constituent« state parliament convened in 1833/34 during the transition of the Kingd
At the beginning of the 20th century, the country house was converted into a state administrative centre and a western side wing was added. After its destruction in the Second World War, the ruins were transferred to municipal ownership; in 1952/53, the western side wing was rebuilt and used as a school and kindergarten. In 1961, the city council decided to rebuild the main wing. The outer façade was restored, with the exception of the eastern outbuilding; the impressive staircase was also reconstructed in great detail. On 6 January 1966, the rebuilt building was handed over to the »Institute and Museum for the History of the City of Dresden«.
From 2003 to 2006, the interior of the Landhaus was remodelled; new exhibition and function rooms were created. The architects built a modern escape staircase on the outside of the east side. The Dresden Municipal Gallery opened on 2 July 2005. The first special exhibition of the City Museum followed on 22 October and the new permanent exhibition of the Dresden City Museum on 29 November 2006.
The history of the City Museum
The first origins of the Dresden City Museum can be traced back to the »Association for the History and Topography of Dresden« founded in 1869. A further step was the establishment of the city library in 1881, to which a local history collection was added. This was fed by the purchase of various private collections, but also included the council silver and other treasures from the council archives. In 1891, the city museum was officially opened in the Loßschen Palais. The city archivist Otto Richter, who also became the first director of the city museum, was closely associated with this constitution process. In 1910, the museum moved to the New Town Hall, where it had its exhibition rooms until 1945. Due to the destruction of the town hall during the war, the city museum was housed on the first floor of the town hall on Nordplatz (now Olbrichtplatz) from 1950 to 1965, before finding its current home in the rebuilt Landhaus in 1966.
Today, the Stadtmuseum aims to act as a guardian of material culture, but also as a place where the people of Dresden can learn about their own historical roots. The permanent exhibition, newly opened in 2006, serves this purpose by reflecting the historical and contemporary role of Dresden as a political, economic and cultural center.
Literature tip:
Stadtmuseum Dresden, Sächsische Landesstelle für Museumswesen (Hrsg.): Das Stadtmuseum Dresden im Landhaus. Dresden 1996, mit Beiträgen von Erika Eschebach, Maike Günther, Friedrich Reichert, Holger Starke, Heidrun Reim und Peter Neukirch.