Music Museums in Germany

KomponistenQuartier Außenansicht, Foto: Ulrich Perrey

Telemann-Museum Hamburg

Peterstraße 31
20355 Hamburg

Phone +49(0)40 876 04 022

Web: www.telemann-museum.de
E-Mail: info@telemann-museum.de

Öffnungszeiten

Tuesday - Sunday
from 10:00 to 17:00 h

Visits for groups at any day can be arranged in advance via email to: h-t-g@t-online.de

The Hamburg Telemann-Museum, the first worldwide, was opened in 2011, as the result of a private initiative and partly by public contribution, in a few small rooms of the historic Beylingstift (dating back to 1751) part of the area owned by the Carl-Toepfer-Foundation. Since March 2015 it has been re-located in larger and redesigned rooms at Peterstraße 31 - combined with Museums for the composers Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Johann Adolf Hasse. Thus visitors can gather information about three important composers of the 18th century.

The Telemann-Museum focuses on his 46 years of life and work in Hambrug. Detailed information is offered on Telemann's religious and secular music productions, his significance for the Hamburg Opera-House and his activity as author and publisher. Original as well as facsimile editions of Telemann's works related to Hamburg are exhibited. Centre of attention in one of the rooms is an original spinett made by Thomas Hitchcock in 1730. Occasionally it is being played on in concerts performed in the museum rooms. In addition the Telemann-Museum houses an imposing library, mainly dedicated to the history of culture and music in Hamburg in the 18th century.

The “Lichtwark-Saal” (Lichtwark-Hall) of the Carl-Toepfer-Foundation is the venue for chamber-music concerts performed for members of our society and guests.

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.