Location: Karlsruhe
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Things to do in Karlsruhe, Baden-Wurttemberg: The Best Specialty Museums
In 1715, margrave Karl III Wilhelm decided he needed more space than he had in Durlach, so he moved his capital to Karlsruhe and had it designed in circular spokes around his new palace. Because of its unique radial shape, Karlsruhe is sometimes called the “fan city.” Home to Germany’s most important federal courts, the city accordingly teems with civil servants. Karlsruhe Schloss (castle) was badly damaged in World War II, but was rebuilt and is now home to the Badisches Landesmuseum.
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1. Badisches Schulmuseum Karlsruhe
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 4 reviews
Das Badische Schulmuseum Karlsruhe zeigt in den Räumen der ehemaligen Waldenserschule im Stadtteil Palmbach Schulgeschichte der letzten 200 Jahre. Hier erleben Sie mit Schiefertafel, Fibel, Feder und Tintenfass eine Zeitreise zurück in den Schulalltag von anno dazumal. Eine historische Besonderheit ist das aus dem Jahre 1929 stammende Wandgemälde des deutschen Malers Hans Fischer-Schuppach.
2. Naturkundemuseum Karlsruhe
3. State Museum of Baden
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 182 reviews
Reviewed By periandro - Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
The Badisches Landesmuseum is a fantastic museum in the city of Karlsruhe as well as an important museum in Germany which houses plenty of works of art some of which constitute real masterpieces. The sight of the imposing building main façade is in itself a stunning view. That building used to be the castle of the said city, founded by the margrave Karl-Wilhelm from Baden-Durlach in the hub of the Hardt forest. It constituted his residence and that of the succesive grand dukes who reigned in the Baden State forming the line of descendants of the founder up to the reign of Frederik II during which the palace became the seat of the government. It turned out to a museum after the First World War. It's a magnificent edifice sonsisting of a groundfloor an two storeys in imperial style. It was refitted in such a style under the rule of the grand duke Karl (grandson of Karl-Frederik who, in turn, was the grandson of the founder, Karl-Wilhelm) and his wife Stephanie de Beauharnais. It has also a big octagonal tower in the middle at the back of the edifice, behind the main entrance, topped by a dome also octagonal shaped, and two smaller square towers on each end of the building which, as a whole, it's a crescent-like structure. The façade is splendidly ornamented and contains a marvellous pediment in the middle in front of the largest tower, the carved shield in it being outstanding. Before the roof there is a very artistic balustrade with statues on each side of the aforesaid pediment. Everything is thus of a great beauty. The visit to that Museum is a very good way to learn about the culture and art history of Baden-Würtenberg. Items ranging from the Paleolitical to the contemporary world are there exhibited. It's amazing to observe, in a global panorama of culture history, objects calling up art, regional history, floklore and everyday civilization, that museum tending therefore to propose a more global conception of history of culture and human sciences. It's really great. The portrait of the founder, margrave Karl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach, most probably painted in Johann Kisling's workshop, ca. 1775, can be seen in that Museum. Likewise marvellous objects dating from the time when that margrave was in power, which were then used in the palace, can be there admired, such as a set of silver baptism elements, a breakfast set made of porcelain whose white of the paste and the good quality of the material are outstanding, a marvellous gilded bronze clock chiming pendulum in early neoclassical style ornamented with personifications of the four seasons. In addition, there are in the same section (The Karlsruhe Castle and Court) some valuable and beautiful objects appertaining to other time, such as an imposing Sèvres porcelain vase, dating from the first quarter of the nineteenth century, with the image of the princess Louise of Baden in her childhood, and a formidable deed-box for greeting cards on whose front the head of the Grand Duke, Frederik I of Baden, is depicted. Furthermore, the gallery of the Dukes of Baden roughly recalls the relevant regional history. Dating back to the XVI century the art and curiosities room includes the oldest works of the Duke collections. There one can see the coloured wax statue of the Margravine Sibylle-Augustine of Baden and her two children by Anna-Maria Braun; a goblet with reliefs of planets and of Lucrecia. The reliefs are very delicately elaborated and the planets there represented symbolise the week days. It's a very nice work made of tender wood. Likewise a small monument representing the rape of a Sabine is a true marvel. It's made of several materials, among which ivory, wood, silver leaves, glass and brass leaf. Some Greek and Roman coins as well as medals are there exhibited. Among the medals, one made by Hans Schwarz, bears the effigy of Albrecht Dürer. It's an interesting one which was made in Nürenberg at the end of the fifteenth century or the beginning of the sixteenth. The Baden Margrave's weapon collection integrates nowadays the most ancient units appertaining to the ducal collection. It's worth observing the great artistic value of some of such weapons owing to the valuable materials of which they were made, such as veined wood and slightly blued iron, as well as their technical perfection. The Turkis buty (Türkenbeute) is an excellent collection even in comparison to other equivalent musem collection. It consists of a marvellous stock linked to a first class historical personnage, the Margrave Ludwig-Wilhelm of Baden-Baden whose image can be contemplated in a fabulous painting by an unknown author made in the 17th century. Apart from that, many other interesting items are exhibited in that section. Among them, the silver victory medal by Philipp Heinrich Müller, commemorative of the Margrave's victory over the Turkish army in 1691; a horse-cloth and saddle in ottoman style from the second half of the 17th century, made of silk, leather, metal threads embroidering, silver and gilded motives, and a quiver for bow and arrow also in ottoman style. Other sections of the Museum are, for instance, that dedicated to pre- and protohistorical collections consisting of remains found on the territory which used to be that of Baden. It's amazing to see such remains ranging from the Neandertal age to the first Germans. Among those remains the decorated vases ought to be outlined. They reveal the development of a first agricultural farming having been called the stripped ceramic farming due to the typical ornamentation of its vases. Many works appertaining to the Greek civilisation of the classical period are exhibited in that Museum. Into that civilisation flow the remarkable developments of previous great civilisations which had a glory height during the 3000 year period before Christ in the Middle East and Egypt. One can there feel an undeniable admiration for the beauty of the nearly abstract forms of the Cyclades, the precious ivory and bronze works of manifold personnages, of the ancient East, life alongside the Nile, in the way the ancient Egyptians represented it in their mausolea. The grand female idol made of marble from Cyclades is outstanding; but in fact all the works contained in that section are real marvels worth being observed carefully, particularly the Aphrodite statuette from Minor Asia dating back to the end of the second century before Christ. In addition to the aforesaid sections, there are others dedicated to the following themes: Etruscan, Italics, Rome and Byzantium; the Romans in the Upper Rhin; the Middle Ages, and others arranged in pursuance of the successive historical periods. In that cncerning the low Middle Ages, for instance, there is a large number of Pietàs, each one of them conceived in accordance with different criteria. That Michael Erhardt elaborated in Ulm ca. 1500 shows a new type of Pietà in which the Virgin is knelt down on the floor supporting Christ's bust on her right leg erect. It's an extraordinary sculpture in which Mary may give way to all the compassion she feels for her son and present his miraculous wounds to the believers. In addition to that sculpture and similar ones, also in this section the Mary Altar of Salem is a gorgeous masterpiece. It was carried out by Bernhard Strigel at the beginning of the sixteenth century and the materials used are coniferous wood, linden-tree wood and tempera painting. The outer sides of the wings show the scenes of the Annunciation and the Visitation, and on the predella the placing of Mary in the tomb is depicted. The retable contains a carved and gilded scene representing the Virgin Mary and the twelve apostles. The contemplation of the altarpiece concerned is a dazzling one especially as far as the two remarkable inner volets are concerned. In that on the left, depicting Christ's birth, a light coming from the Child and illuminating specific parts of an imaginative space stands out. At the sight of such composite artwork sensitive people can't have but a thrill ascribable to its extreme beauty and charm. Among the artwork ranging from the sixteenth to the end of the twentieth century exhibited in that Museum there are also very nice items worth being attentively beheld. The most eye-catching ones are perhaps the ivory sculptures called “Three women” by Leonhardt Kern dating back to ca. 1640, and “Perseus and Andromeda” by Adam Lenckhardt made in 1643. The Badisches Landesmuseum is therefore a spectacular place where to go while in Karlsruhe in order to have an undescribably great moment enjoying at the sight of the marvels it harbours. In order to get a good insight of the whole the visit shouldn't last less than five or six hours. For obvious reasons that will most probably make one wish to go to that Museum again.
4. Staedtische Galerie
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 15 reviews
5. Zeitgeist-Uhrenmuseum
6. Museum beim Markt
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 10 reviews
Reviewed By Thidwick11
Best collection of art nouveau glass I've ever seen, and that includes the massive collection at the Musee D'orsay in Paris. The museum is beautifully curated. Small, precise, and filled with quality surprises. Loved it!
