Heinrich Schütz House is a cultural site in
Weißenfels, in
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
, Germany. The composer
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) lived here during his later years; the house is now a museum about his life and work.
History
Schütz in Weißenfels
Schütz lived in Weißenfels from 1590, aged six, when the family moved here from
Köstritz, the composer's birthplace. His father Christoph Schütz took one of the inns in the town.
Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, staying overnight at the inn in 1599, discovered Heinrich's musical talent and offered to have him educated; Heinrich moved to the landgrave's court in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
, where he was a choirboy. Later, during his career as composer, Schütz mainly lived in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
.
["Museum"]
Heinrich Schütz Haus. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
The house in Nikolaistraße was built in 1552. Schütz bought the house in 1651, for his retirement, and he lived here from 1657, with his widowed sister Justina Thörmer. He moved to Dresden in 1672, and died there later that year.
[
]
The house
The museum, founded in 1985, is administered by the town of Weißenfels.
The house was restored from 2010 to 2012. In the ground floor and upper floor there is a permanent exhibition about Schütz's life and works. In the attic is the restored ''Komponierstube'' (composing room), where he composed his late works. In the room are two fragments of handwritten music by Schütz that were discovered in the building.[
Staff at the museum carry out research about Schütz and about the musical life of Weißenfels, resulting in publications, exhibitions and events."Research"]
Heinrich Schütz Haus. Retrieved 29 May 2023. In 2006 the house was included in the list of cultural heritage sites in the ''Blaubuch
The ''Blaubuch'' ("Blue Book") is an inventory of "cultural lighthouses": culturally important sites in the eastern ''Länder'' of Germany.
It was first published in 2001, as an evaluation study proposed by the then Secretary of Culture of the Ger ...
'' (Blue Book) of the federal government.[
]
See also
* List of music museums
* , a museum at the composer's birthplace
References
{{authority control
Biographical museums in Germany
Music museums in Germany
Museums in Saxony-Anhalt
Museums established in 1985
1985 establishments in East Germany
Houses completed in 1552
Weißenfels