Exhibitions


A matter of prestige

Opulent clothing of the bourgeois from the 18th century

November 5th, 2023 to June 16th, 2024


As part of the 650th anniversary celebrations of the city of Krefeld, the German Textile Museum contributes an exhibition on a selection of its 18th century European silks. This collection formed the subject of the textile museum within the joint research project "PARVENUE – the rise of the Bourgeois set against the background of the Material Culture of the 18th Century", which saw the participation of the Museum Burg Linn, the Hetjens Museum in Düsseldorf, the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences Berlin/AMD. The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) from 2018 to 2023.

One of the Textile Museum's sub-projects, known as "Silks of the 18th century", was dedicated to the museum’s own collection of European silks from this period, a collection made up of more than 900 artefacts, consisting of garments and accessories, fabric panels and fragments. During the preparatory phase, the collection was scientifically catalogued and analysed. Subsequently, from 2020 to 2023, Anja Kregeloh focused on classifying the silk fabrics and garments in terms of the roles they played historically in art and culture. The aim of the research project was to explore the diversity of silk products from this period as well as elaborate upon their function as items of opulence, symbols of social status, prestige and vehicles of self-presentation.

A further subproject carried out at the German Textile Museum from 2019 to 2021 saw Marion Rudel devoting herself to studying the "Duisburger Intelligenz-Zettel" [a business journal published in Duisburg], which proved to be a valuable source of information for interpreting the circulation and distribution of textiles, clothing types and accessories in western Prussia between 1727 and 1780.

 

Those involved:

Dr. Anja Kregeloh and Dr. Isa Fleischmann-Heck

Exhibition curators

 

Verena Thiemann, Claudia Vollmuth, Katja Wagner, Monika Nürnberg,

Susanne Schumann and Tanja Dessauvagie (trainee)

Conservators

 

Dr. Annette Paetz gen. Schieck,

Silke Büchel and Ann-Charlotte Fritz (intern)

Backup

 

Richard Fabricius and Michael Winkler

Technicians

 

Andrea Sturm

Public Relations

 

Artefact loaners

We would like to thank the following for generously lending their artefacts

Kunstmuseen Krefeld

Museum Burg Linn, Krefeld

Stadtarchiv Krefeld

Grafschafter Museum im Moerser Schloss / Grafschafter Museums- und Geschichtsverein Moers

Hetjens-Museum, Düsseldorf

Goethe-Museum Düsseldorf



Interesting facts about our exhibitions


Textiles are very sensitive pieces. Light, dust, and changing climates can prove to be extremely problematic to historical textiles. This is why we do not have permanent exhibitions; instead, we rely upon presentations focussing on changing themes that are never on display for any longer than four to six months. We always showcase our textiles at a maximum of 50 lux and a constant temperature of 18 degrees Celsius and 50% humidity for their protection.The museum is closed to the public in between exhibitions. 



During the corona virus pandemic, please be prepared for waiting times during your visit, as we are only allowed to admit a limited number of visitors.

Wearing a protective face masks is mandatory while inside our building. Please observe all social distancing and hygiene rules as well.


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