The Kunstmuseum Bayreuth is a museum for modern art, opened in 1999 in Bayreuth,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany. The historic rooms of the baroque former town hall present exhibitions with contemporary art and classical modern art. The offer includes guided tours, educational events and lectures.

History

Entrance Kunstmuseum Bayreuth Margrave's lion above the portal in the Brautgasse The beginnings of the building date back to the

middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. After destruction as a result of the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

in the year 1430 and the large fires in 1605 and 1621, the building was transformed into the town hall of Bayreuth in 1721 and served in that function until 1916. Under the auspices of the

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...

's architect

Johann David Räntz Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

, the building was transformed from 1722 to 1727. From 1797 to 1812 the old town hall was the seat of the municipal court, and the district court convened here from 1816 to 1832. Until 1916 public amenities such as a trade school or the municipal post office found accommodation. With the inauguration of the new town hall on the Luitpoldplatz in 1916, the building lost this function. In the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

, the baroque town hall housed the municipal library from 1921 to 1928. After the destruction of the new town hall during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the old town hall was used as town hall again from 1945. With the construction of the modern town hall, opened in 1972, the building served as state police department. After Mayor won the foundation ''Dr. Helmut and Constanze Meyer Kunststiftung'' for Bayreuth, the building was chosen as the seat for the Kunstmuseum Bayreuth, opened in December 1999.Walter Bartl, Bernd Mayer, Reiner Küchler, Jürgen Dohrmann, Norbert Will, Holger Leverentz, Marina von Assel, Dieter Mronz, Hans Angerer: Das Alte Rathaus der Stadt Bayreuth: Geschichte, Umbau und heutige Nutzung. Stadt Bayreuth, 2000, .

External links

Homepage Kunstmuseum Bayreuth

References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Bayreuth Modern art museums in Germany Museums in Bavaria