The Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum (HAUM) is an art museum in the German city of

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

History

Founded in 1754, the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum is one of the oldest museums in Europe. The museum has its origins in the art and natural history cabinet of Duke Charles I of Brunswick, which he opened in 1754 at the suggestion of the Dutch physician Daniel de Superville. It was one of the first museums in Germany to open to the public and was opened only one year after the British Museum in London. This "cabinet" included a collection of handicraft works and sculptures from the Baroque and Renaissance, but also ancient works of art from outside Europe. The natural history collection later became the basis of the Natural History Museum. The current museum building was opened in 1887. Its architect, Oskar Sommer, planned the building in

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style. In 2010 an extension building was added to the museum. The historical building was closed for renovation for seven years. The museum reopened on 23 October 2016.

Collection

The museum houses an important collection of Western

old master In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

paintings, and is especially strong in Northern European art since the Renaissance, including works by

Cranach Cranach is a German-language surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Augustin Cranach (1554–1595), German painter *Hans Cranach (c. 1513–1537), German painter *Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472–1553), German artist *Lucas Cranach th ...

(a very strong collection),

Holbein Hans Holbein may refer to: * Hans Holbein the Elder Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter. Life Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsa ...

, Dürer,

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

, and

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

. Rarities include a single work each by

Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...

Giorgione Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic qualit ...

and

Rosso Fiorentino Giovanni Battista di Jacopo (8 March 1495 in Gregorian style, or 1494 according to the calculation of times in Florence where the year began on 25 March – 14 November 1540), known as Rosso Fiorentino (meaning "Red Florentine" in Italian) ...

. The museum is based on the

Schloss Salzdahlum Schloss Salzdahlum was a former summer palace built by Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1684. It was dismantled in 1813 but parts of it can still be seen in the town of Salzdahlum. Located between Braunschweig and Wolfenbüttel, ...

art collection of

Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

(1633–1714), after whom it is named. In old catalogs, the term ''Bilder-Galerie zu Salzthalen'' refers to this collection. The

print room A print room is a room in an art gallery or museum where a collection of old master and modern prints, usually together with drawings, watercolours, and photographs, are held and viewed. A further meaning is a room decorated by pasting prints ...

, with over 100,000 prints and 10,000 drawings, is of international importance. There are also temporary exhibitions of art from all over the world. Among the manuscript items is the journal of

Matthäus Schwarz Matthäus Schwarz (19 February 1497 – c.1574) was a German accountant, best known for compiling his ''Klaidungsbüchlein'' or ''Trachtenbuch'' (usually translated as "Book of Clothes"), a book cataloguing the clothing that he wore between 1520 ...

, an accountant very interested in fashion who documented his outfits throughout his adult life at a time when it was thought that people not of the highest rank dressed drably. It is the first known fashion book. The museum's collection of medieval objects is housed at

Dankwarderode Castle Dankwarderode Castle (german: Burg Dankwarderode) on the ''Burgplatz'' ("castle square") in Braunschweig (Brunswick) is a Saxon lowland castle. It was the residence of the Brunswick dukes for centuries and, today, is part of the Herzog Anton Ulric ...

Provenance Research

The museum launched a project to research artworks acquired in the 1940s from the art dealer H. W. Lange in Berlin, Heinrich Hahn in Frankfurt am Main and Scheuermann und Seifert in Berlin. As a result of this research, a painting by

Rombout van Troyen Rombout van Troyen (c 1605, Amsterdam – 1655, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Biography According to Houbraken he painted Italianate landscapes of ruined palaces and grottos, though he had never been to Italy.

, “''Felsgrotte mit Opferszene''” was restituted to the heirs of the Jewish physician Dr Hans Herxheimer from Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt 1880-1944

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

) and a painting by

Max Joseph Wagenbauer Maximilian Joseph Wagenbauer (1775 in Grafing – 1829 in Munich), was a Bavarian artist. After finishing school, Wagenbauer attended drawing classes in Munich, under Johann Jakob Dorner the Elder (1741-1813). At the turn of the 19th centur ...

, “''Großes Bauerngehöft am Dorfrand''” (Great Farm with a Village in the far Distance) was the object of a financial settlement. Both paintings were purchased from the Hahn auction of November 17–18, 1942

Selected works in the museum

Master of the Brunswick Diptych - Diptych opened.jpg, ''Brunswick Diptych'', by the

Master of the Brunswick Diptych Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans * Grandmaster (chess), National Maste ...

, c. 1490 Giorgione 059.jpg, ''

Self-portrait as David ''Self-Portrait as David'' is a c.1509-1510 oil on panel portrait by Giorgione, now in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Brunswick. It is not universally accepted as an autograph work but - if it is - it is thought to be the prototype for another ...

'', by

, c. 1500 Dürer - Die Entführung auf dem Einhorn - Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum.png, ''Abduction of Proserpine on a Unicorn'',

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

, 1516 Portrait of Cyriacus Kale, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg, ''Portrait of Cyriacus Kale'', by

Hans Holbein the Younger Hans Holbein the Younger ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Jüngere; – between 7 October and 29 November 1543) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss painter and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style, and is considered o ...

, 1533 Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Herkules bei Omphale (Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum).jpg, ''Hercules and Omphale'', by

Lucas Cranach the Elder Lucas Cranach the Elder (german: Lucas Cranach der Ältere ; – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is know ...

, 1537 Peter Paul Rubens - Judith with the Head of Holofernes.jpg, ''Judith with the Head of Holofernes'', by

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

, 1616 Jan Vermeer van Delft 006.jpg, ''

The Girl with the Wine Glass ''The Girl with the Wine Glass'' (''Dame en twee heren'') is an oil on canvas painting by Johannes Vermeer, created ''c.'' 1659–1660, now in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, in Braunschweig. Painting materials The pigment analysis done by Herman ...

'', by

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , #Pronunciation of name, see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period Painting, painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class, middle-class life. ...

, c. 1659 Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 050.jpg, '' Portrait of a Family'', by

, 1668–69 Christoph Bernhard Francke - Bildnis des Philosophen Leibniz (ca. 1695).jpg, ''Portrait of

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...

'', by

Christoph Bernhard Francke Christoph Bernhard Francke, also known as Bernhard Christoph Francken (c. 1660-1670 in Hanover – 18 January 1729 in Braunschweig) was a German military officer and painter in the Baroque style. Biography Little is known about his early life ...

, c. 1695 Jan Kupecký 003.jpg, ''Portrait of a Young Woman'', by

Jan Kupecký Ján Kupecký or Jan Kupecký (in German: Johann Kupetzky, in Hungarian: Kupecky János, or Kupeczky János, 1667 – July 16, 1740) was a Czech portrait painter during the baroque. He was active in Hungary, Vienna and Nürnberg. Bernhard Vogel ...

, c. 1710

References

External links

* * Art museums and galleries in Germany Buildings and structures in Braunschweig Culture in Braunschweig Museums in Lower Saxony Art museums established in 1754 Culture of Lower Saxony 1754 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Organisations based in Braunschweig {{LowerSaxony-struct-stub