Music Museums in Germany

The Lachner Brothers Museum

Kirchplatz 7
86641 Rain am Lech

Phone +49.9090.703-0
Fax +49.9090.703-139

Web: www.rain.de/kultur/index.htm
E-Mail: archiv@rain.de

Opening hours

By appointment via the City Hall
Phone: +49.9090.703340

The Lachner brothers – Theodor, Franz, Ignaz, and Vinzenz – come from a long-established family of organists in the city of Rain. In the 19th Centruy before the time of Richard Wagner, they ranked among the most distinguished Classical-Romantic musicians of their era. The most famous of them, Franz Lachner (1803-1890), who was a friend of Schubert, was a music director and versatile composer and as general music director in Munich from 1836 to 1868 had significant influence on the musical life in the Royal Bavarian capital and residence city and far beyond.

The former municipal organist house and birthplace of the Romantic Lachner sibling musicians on the Rain church square was made open to the public as a museum by the City of Rain in 1989. In its rooms, it conveys an impression of the crowded social circumstances of the 18-member family and – based on the life in this old-Bavarian small country town of the Biedermeier period – by means of documents, manuscripts, and sheet-music prints on the one hand shows music-historical relationships, on the other hand the interaction of the lives and artisic work of the Lachner brothers.

Germany possesses musical traditions and legacies of extraordinary value: Handel, Schuetz and Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Wagner - to mention only a few names - are composers who are known and treasured throughout the world. Their work has played a significant role in shaping a unique musical landscape.

Numerous orchestras, choruses, ensembles, renowned music festivals and series, music houses with museums, public archives and libraries, but also private collections preserve their musical heritage.

It is necessary to revitalize this inestimable fund again and again and to develop it for the present. At the same time, an important role befits the houses combined in the consortium of music museums of Germany. In them we encounter the work of the musicians and composers who have extraordinarily enriched the cultural nation of Germany. However, beyond the individual portrait, beyond the procurement of individual oeuvres, the music museums also contribute overall to the maintenance of musical tradition. The present brochure underscores this aspect of the synoptic presentation and invites the reader on a journey into the musical history of Germany. I hope this tour guide will be actively used and receive a large response.

Bernd Neumann, Member of the Lower House of the German Parliament
Minister of State with the Federal Chancellor
Commissioner of the Federal Government for Culture and Media

Quoted from: Foreword to the brochure "Music Museums in Germany", 2007.