Gundert Museum is a heritage museum located at

Thalassery Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karna ...

, Kerala. It was originally the residence of Hermann Gundert, a German missionary who is remembered for his contributions to the

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

. It was known as Gundert Bungalow before turning into a museum and was constructed in the 1800's. In 2022, it was converted into a museum by the

Kerala Government Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

as a tribute to Gundert. It was from this bungalow that Gundert published the first language dictionary in Malayalam and the first Malayalam dailies

Rajyasamacharam ''Rajyasamacharam'' or ''Rajya Samacharam'' was the first Malayalam journal published in Kerala. Its first issue came out in June 1847. Hermann Gundert, the editor of the journal, was a religious propagator from the Basel Evangelical Mission s ...

and Paschimdodayam. The museum houses the Hermann Hesse Library, a collection of rare books, the Julie Gundert Hall, the Gundert Statue and the Digital Book Archive.

Overview

Gundert Bungalow was the residence of Hermann Gundert, who lived in

for 20 years. A German missionary, scholar and linguist, he came to Thalassery in 1839 and continued to live and work there with his wife Julie for 20 years . Ill health forced him to return to Germany in 1859. Gundert Bungalow is a heritage building. Its construction is in orthodox Kerala architectural style. It has tiled roof and large verandahs run along all four sides. It has wooden doors and windows. The craftsmen have used laterite stones and red clay roof tiles. River Kuyyali flows close to Gundert Bungalow. In the museum, Gunthert's life story is told through descriptions. It was renovated into a museum at a cost of Rs 2.21 crore and was opened to public on 7 May 2022. The renovatiom work was completed under the Thalassery Heritage Tourism Project.

References

{{authority control Museums in Kerala