Romanticism, Biedermeier & Modernism
Collection
The collection area "Romanticism, Biedermeier, Modernism" of the Museum für Franken comprises several thousand objects from all over Franconia from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century.
In the future, this area will also be expanded to include objects from the present day. In the current permanent exhibition, the focus is on paintings, furniture and handicraft objects from the Romantic and Biedermeier periods.
The artists and masters include many well-known names: Andreas and August Christian Geist, Georg Mauckener, Ludwig Richter, Peter von Hess and Georg Stephan Dörffer.
Of particular note are the works of Ferdinand von Rayski, who was only active in Franconia for a short time and created a large number of portraits of influential personalities from the Franconian upper class. Like local Romantic painters, Rayski captured the beauty of the Franconian landscape in paintings.
The magnificent portraits by Ferdinand von Rayski, which he created during his stay in Franconia in 1837/38, are undoubtedly among the highlights of the Romanticism, Biedermeier and Modernism collection at the Museum für Franken. The landscape paintings in the collection are also among the absolute highlights, as they bear witness to the growing interest in the beauty of the Franconian landscape in the 19th century.
The works of the Schweinfurt painter Margarethe Geiger are extremely impressive, especially her self-portrait. Her paintings of traditional costumes are also important examples of 19th century Franconian customs.
Biedermeier domestic culture is presented in the collection of the Museum für Franken through furniture, decor and tableware from Würzburg town houses.
Only a few exhibits so far shed light on the 20th and 21st centuries of Franconian history. One focus of the current and future collection work is therefore to expand the holdings so that Franconian contemporary history can also be told in the Museum für Franken.
