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Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, B. P. Keiser
Blick auf den Neubau vom Museumspark aus
© Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Claus Cordes
On 23 October 2016 the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, one of the oldest and most important art galleries in Germany was reopened after a seven-year refurbishing period.
The State of Lower Saxony and other sponsors and partners invested about 35.6 million euros in the future of this tradition-steeped art museum. The 19th century museum building was stripped of subsequent fixtures and installations, thoroughly refurbished and equipped with state-of-the-art exhibition technology. Guided by the principle of giving optimal support to the display of artistic splendor, there are exhibition spaces of minimalist and sober elegance as well as exhibition rooms with bold color schemes. The result: 4,000 works of art spanning 3,000 years on an exhibition area of 4,000 m2. This is art appreciation of the highest quality.
The annex behind the museum houses the Print Room and the library. These are accessible on demand.
Rittersaal der Burg Dankwarderode
© Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Claus Cordes
Burg Dankwarderode was built between 1160 and 1175 as a palace for Henry the Lion and replaced a Brunonian structure. After numerous conversions and extensions it was rebuilt by Ludwig Winter, head of the municipal planning and building control office, between 1885 and 1906 as a neo-Romanesque building in the historicist style. For centuries this building has been an identity-establishing landmark of the “Lion City”. The painting of the hall of knights on the upper floor was executed by Adolf Quensen, but was almost completely destroyed as a result of war damage. The elaborate restoration of the hall with its columns, 10 chandeliers and the wall paintings was completed in 1995.
The squires’ hall in the basement of the building served as an exhibition room for the collection of medieval art from 1963 onwards, and since 1989 it has housed the bronze sculpture of the Castle Lion that Henry the Lion had installed on the Burgplatz in the 1160s as a symbol of justice and power. The sculpture now standing in the square is a copy.
