Germanisches Nationalmuseum

Germanisches Nationalmuseum
Established	1852
Location	Nuremberg, Germany
Visitor figures	405,799 (2010)
Director	Prof. Dr. habil. G. Ulrich Großmann
Public transit access	U2 (Nuremberg U-Bahn)/U3 (Nuremberg U-Bahn): Opernhaus; U1 (Nuremberg U-Bahn): Lorenzkirche
Website	http://www.gnm.de

The Germanisches Nationalmuseum is a museum in Nuremberg, Germany. Founded in 1852, houses a large collection of items relating to German culture and art extending from prehistoric times through to the present day. With current overall holdings of about 1.2 million objects, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum is Germany's largest museum of cultural history.

Formerly the Germanisches Museum, it was founded by a group of individuals led by Franconian baron, Hans von und zu Aufsess, whose goal was to assemble a "well-ordered compendium of all available source material for German history, literature and art".

The buildings incorporate the remaining structures of the former Nuremberg Charterhouse, dissolved in 1525 and used for a variety of secular purposes until in 1857 what was left of the premises, by then badly dilapidated, was given to the Museum.

Collection

• Cloth of St Gereon, a fragment they have in their inventory. It happens to be the oldest European tapestry still existing.
• Portrait of Barbara Dürer, part of a portrait diptych by Albrecht Dürer
• Lamentation of Christ, also attributed to Dürer
• The drinker - selfportrait, painting by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

External links

1954 image of an exhibit in the Nationalmuseum

• Museum website (German) including information in English