Categories: germany, postcards
Date: 17 July 2008 23:58:38
Last September, I did not have time to visit all the museums I had wanted to see in Nürnberg. I managed to see one more while I was there this time - the Germanisches Nationalmuseum.
It was stuffed full of mediaeval treasures and some of Dürer's works but rather than feeling I had three hours to enjoy these things, I felt rather hassled. The museum had about 10 visitors when I was there and about 5 members of staff per visitor tripping over themselves to point you in the right direction. And I needed these guides because the first one explained that all the floors had different closing times. To make sure I didn't miss too much, I went round in the order of floors to close first. But this is where the pressure started to build up. I couldn't linger as I felt there was someone about 10 steps behind me all the time closing off doors, rooms and corridors.
Nürnberg used to be a well-known centre for toy making over the centuries - and still has a couple of factories now. I discovered the Germanisches Nationalmuseum's toy section in a separate building down the street but couldn't work out if this was in addition to the Toy Museum I'd heard about. Anyway, it was also about to close, so I marched round fairly quickly. It had some truly amazing dolls' houses. The houses must have been about 2 metres high with at least three floors each. All the furnishings were intricate, elaborate and exquisitely detailed. (The dolls themselves were a bit of a disappointment - not to scale and comparatively clumsily made). One house even had a stable on the ground floor with horses in!
Later, I passed a shop selling traditional German pottery and ceramics. I went in to browse around and noticed a sign announcing that a famous brand of figurines, Hummel, was going to cease production in December 2008.
The sales assistant told me that Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel signed an agreement with the porcelain firm W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik in 1935 allowing her drawings to be transformed into figurines. After the Sister's death in 1946, an artistic board was appointed at her convent to safeguard the quality of the figurines and this arrangement continues. However, the company has decided to discontinue production as the figurines are no longer selling as well as they have done.
I had thought these figurines dated back further than 1935 - perhaps 100 years or more judging from the style of costume the children wear. I had never been able to decide if I thought they were kitsch or cute. On the spur of the moment, I decided to buy a couple - it might be now or never. My colleague C left me in no doubt as to what she thought of them: echt kitschig. I still can't decide...but if I think they are too dreadful for my ultra-sophisticated home, I can always sell them as collector's items.... I'll let you know if I put them on ebay or sell them through Sotheby's...
Whatever you think of them, it's the end of a tradition...perhaps one day they'll end up in a museum....