Established in 1815 as a civic foundation by the banker and merchant Johann Friedrich Städel, the Städel Museum is regarded as the oldest and most renowned museum foundation in Germany. The diversity of the collection provides an almost complete overview of 700 years of European art history, from the early fourteenth century across the Renaissance, the Baroque and Modernism right up to the immediate present. Altogether the Städel collection comprises some 3,000 paintings, 600 sculptures, more than 4,000 photographs and more than 100,000 drawings and graphic works. Its highlights include works by such artists as Lucas Cranach, Albrecht Dürer, Sandro Botticelli, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Vermeer, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Beckmann, Alberto Giacometti, Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter, Wolfgang Tillmans and Corinne Wasmuht. The focus of the Städel Museum’s work, alongside collecting and conserving, consists in scholarly research into the museum’s holdings, as well as in the organization of exhibitions based on the works in its care. A further central concern is to put the art across to specific target groups; this aspect addresses both the contents of the collection but also general questions of art, and is aimed at a diversified public. The high level of activity in the research, exhibition and education fields, and not least the outstanding quality of the collection itself, guarantee the Städel an important place on the international museum scene. As Germany’s most important civic foundation in the field of culture, the Städel exemplifies a broad commitment on the part of individual citizens, a commitment that is an essential contribution to the maintenance and development of this institution.
Collection, Special Exhibitions, Education and Research
Since its foundation, the Städelsches Kunstinstitut and Städtische Galerie – to give it its full name – has continually enlarged its holdings and integrated current artistic movements into the art-historical canon. Every new acquisition takes into account the museum’s own collection profile, which itself is expanded on an ongoing basis and extended into the present-day. The permanent exhibition is subdivided into ‘Old Masters’, ‘Modern Art’ and ‘Contemporary Art’, while the Graphics Collection displays its holdings in the ‘Studiensaal‘ (‘study room’) as well as in changing exhibitions. In addition, the Städel offers its visitors a number of internationally respected special exhibitions every year, each concerned with the work of individual artists represented in the collection and their respective contexts. The exhibitions are accompanied by a diverse programme of events for children and young people as well as for adults, families and senior citizens. The spectrum of events, interactive guided tours and seminars for different age-groups ranges across the services provided by the Städel Library and Media Center and aims at an intuitive access to the museum collection. All in all, the Städel offers more than 50 different education formats. Individual and active confrontation with the museum’s collection is also supported by the use of media such as social networks, films, digital audio-guides and online education services.
History
In 1815, the Frankfurt based banker and spice-merchant Johann Friedrich Städel bequeathed his house on Rossmarkt along with his art collection and his fortune for the purpose of setting up the art institute named after him. He directed on the one hand that a public collection be maintained, and on the other that artists be trained at an art academy; the latter, now known as the Städelschule, was later taken over by Frankfurt’s city council. In 1833, the Städelsches Kunstinstitut moved to a home of its own on Neue Mainzer Strasse in Frankfurt. Since 1878, it has occupied purpose-built premises on the Schaumainkai, today known as the ‘Museumsufer Frankfurt’. The history of the institution has been characterized by numerous extensions and modernizations. In 1990, it was enlarged by the addition of a new building on Holbeinstrasse, designed by Gustav Peichl. In 2012, the completion of the Städel underground extension (‘garden halls’) designed by the Frankfurt architects schneider+schumacher took place; this increased the exhibition space by 3,000 square metres for the presentation of the collection of contemporary art at the Städel Museum.
Donors, Patrons and Friends
The broad spectrum of the museum’s programme is due above all to the commitment of numerous partners, sponsors and supporters. With the act of donation in 1815 a tradition began, which is carried on to this day: time and again, important works, and indeed whole groups of works, have found their way into the collection as a result of donations. In order to put support by the citizenry on a firm basis and to open up the institution to an even broader social spectrum, the Städelsche Museums-Verein (‘Städel Museum Association’) was founded in 1899, and since then it has constantly made possible the acquisition of important works. In addition, 2008 saw the formation of the ‘Städelkomitee 21. Jahrhundert’ (‘Städel Committee 21st Century’), which is exclusively devoted to the acquisition of contemporary art. The extension completed in 2012, along with the refurbishment of the old building, was financed half-and-half through public and private funds thanks to the unprecedented support received from businesses, non-profit foundations and private citizens. The campaign ‘Frankfurt baut das neue Städel’ (‘Frankfurt Is Building the New Städel’), which was initiated by the museum, involved numerous events in order to support the largest extension of the buildings and their contents in the almost 200-year lasting history of the museum.
Venue: Städel Museum, Schaumainkai 63, 60596 Frankfurt
Information: www.staedelmuseum.de, info@staedelmuseum.de,
Tel. +49(0)69-605098-0, Fax +49(0)69-605098-111
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Director: Max Hollein
Curators: Dr Bastian Eclercy (Head of pre-1800 Italian, French and Spanish Painting), Dr Martin Engler (Head of Contemporary Art), Dr Eva Mongi-Vollmer (Curator of Special Projects), Dr Felix Krämer (Head of the 19th-century and Modernist Painting and Sculpture), Prof. Jochen Sander (Head of pre-1800 Netherlandish and German Painting), Dr Jutta Schütt (Head of the Graphics Collection post-1750, 19th and 20th centuries), Dr Martin Sonnabend (Head of the Graphics Collection pre-1750)
Opening times:
Museum: Tue, Wed, Sat and Sun 10 am – 6 pm, Thu and Fri 10 am – 9 pm
Graphics Collection: Monday, Friday 2 pm–5 pm, Thursday 2 pm–7 pm
Library: Tue, Wed and Friday 10 am–5 pm, Thursday 10 am–8 pm
Admission: 12 euros, concessions 10 euros, family ticket 20 euros;
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 14 euros, concessions 12 euros, family ticket 24 euros;
children under 12 free
Online ticket shop and advance purchase at: tickets.staedelmuseum.de