2009_02_01The History Museum of Sighişoara

7/30/2019 2009_02_01The History Museum of Sighioara

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THE ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF MUSEUMS

The citadel of our town hasbeen a major tourist attraction eversince the beginning of the 19thcentury. The fascination for theMiddle Ages was one of the majorpreoccupations of Romanticismand the members of the HungarianHistorian Society, holding assemblyin this town on the initiative ofhistorian and MP Karl Fabritiusin 1879, were fascinated by themultitude of the medieval buildings,and it was then that the idea oforganising a museum emerged.

An exhibition was then organized,which inspired the young studentJosef Bacon and the brothersFriedrich and Heinrich Kraus to laythe foundations of a history andart museum. This idea had alreadybeen promoted by the Gross-KoklerBotenewspaper, where the idea ofusing some of the citadel towers

was supported. Unfortunatelythe idea was abandoned, andresumed only 20 years later. Atthe anniversary of the Hungarianjubilee in 1896 the governmentappealed to the communities tocreate humanitarian or culturalorganisations. In this context JosefBacons appeal was approved by thetown council considering the Clock

Tower a good place for a museumand taking also into account thetown budget.1

On June 24th, 1899 the museumAlt Schaessburg, organised withthe support of the Sebastian Hann-

association, opened in the ClockTower. In Josef Bacons view, thepurpose of this museum was topromote the cultural and spiritualvalues of the German community

of Sighioara, to support localartists by organizing exhibitions andmeetings, and to apply old styles inboth urban and rural architecture.2

Alongside with this museum,at the initiative of the samepassionate custodian, Dr. JosefBacon, in an outbuilding of theClock Tower, in 1912 the Hygiene

Museum was opened exhibitingover 700 charts and drawingsillustrating the epidemics whichhad devastated the town and alsothe towns demographic evolution.Other museums opened in thatperiod were The Museum of SaxonEthnography, located in the Housewith the Shingle Roof (1908), and

the School Museum, housed bythe vestry of the Monastery Church(1932).3

This initiative of Josef Bacon hadthe nancial support, as has beenpointed out before, of the SebastianHann-Association from Sighioaraever since the year 1904. Othersupporters had been: Karl Seraphin,Betty Schuller, Friedrich Meltzer,

Julius Holitzer, Julius Misselbacher(1903-1963). The latter had a majorcontribution to the systematicand scientic classication of themuseums rst collections.

The hisTory MuseuM of sighioara

110 years of hisTory

Nicolae TesculaDirector of

the History Museum of Sighioara

1Richard AcknerDas Bacon-Buch. Von

Mosel an die Koklel.

Familiengeschichte.

Familiendruck undfr SiebenbrgischeBibliotek

Gundelsheim,2002, p. 77.Familiengeschichte.Familiendruck und

fr SiebenbrgischeBibliotekGundelsheim,

2002, p. 77.

2Die Schburger

Museen, Friedrich

Horedth Verlag,Sighisoara, 1933,p. 2.

3Ibidem, pp. 4-10.


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REVISTA MUZEELOR

The Romanian community, nolesser, opened in 1937, in a house

rented in the lower town, themuseum of Romanian ethnography The Ethnographic Museum of theTrnave Region,4 founded by theRomanian ethnologist GheorgheCernea, a teacher from the villageof Palo-Ardeal.

The communist era brought aboutsubstantial changes in the evolutionof the museums of Sighioara. In1952 the entire collection of theSaxon museum was nationalised,the museum now being housed inthe Clock Tower only. The nameof the museum had been alsochanged, varying from The Museumof the Rayon of Sighioara in 1952to the The Municipal Museumof Sighioara in 1968, up to The

History Museum of Sighioara, theactual name of the museum.

After Gheorghe Cernea wasarrested in the 1950s, his collectionof Romanian ethnography wasconscated and distributed toother museums. The collection oficons on wood and glass was theonly one to remain in Sighioara.5

In the 1970s some rooms on thesecond oor of the Vlad Dracul

House were used by the museumto create an exhibition of medievalweapons. The cohabitation witha restaurant being unusual, in1988 this collection was moved tothe ground oor of the buildinghousing the primary school ofthe Joseph Haltrich High School,where can be found even today.

In 1999 the old military prisonof the town located on the groundoor of the Clock Tower wasreorganized as the Torture Chamber,showing items and illustrations ofprocedures of torture from theCodex Criminales Teresiana (1769),the last criminal law allowing theuse of torture in penal proceedingsunder the Habsburg Monarchy.

This anniversary is an opportunityfor us to express our gratitudeto our forerunners for all theirefforts in the eld of museologyin Sighisoara, and at the sametime our commitment to furtherdevelop our museum according tothe standards of the 21st century.

4Adriana Antihi,Despre activitatea

muzeelor din

Sighioaran Vatra, 6, 2006,p. 20.

5Ibidem, p. 21.


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THE ROMANIAN JOURNAL OF MUSEUMS

Pentru urbea noastr, cetateaa reprezentat nc din secolul alXIX-lea un mare potenial turistic.Fascinaia pentru Evul Mediu era

una dintre preocuprile majore aleideologiei romantice. Cu ocaziaadunrii generale a Societii istoricemaghiare, organizat la iniiativaistoricului i deputatului KarlFabritius n oraul de pe TrnavaMare n 1879, participanii au fostfascinai de multitudinea de cldirimedievale i atunci apare ideeaorganizrii unui muzeu.

Acum se organizeaz o expoziie,care va nsuei pe tnrul studentJosef Bacon i pe doi frai Friedrichi Heinrich Kraus s pun bazeleunui muzeu de istorie i art.Aceast idee, de altfel, a aprutn paginile lui Gross-Kokler Bote,unde se milita pentru utilizareaunor turnuri din cetate. Din pcate

ideea a fost abandonat i reluatcu 20 de ani mai trziu. n 1896cu ocazia jubileului maghiar, oadres din partea guvernuluicerea comunitilor s ntemeiezeinstituii umanitare sau culturale.n acest context, referatul lui JosefBacon a fost aprobat de consiliulorenesc socotindu-se c alegereaninrii unui muzeu n Turnul

cu Ceas este una foarte bun i, nacelai timp, ieftin pentru bugetuloraului.1

La 24 iunie 1899 se deschideauporiile Turnului cu Ceas, undeera organizat cu sprijinul asociaiei

Sebastian Hann muzeulAlt Schaessburg.n viziunea lui Josef Bacon, scopul

inaugurrii acestui muzeu a fost dea se promova valorile culturale i

spirituale ale comunitii germanedin Sighioara; de a se susineartiti plastici locali prin expoziiii ntruniri; aplicarea n construcii,att urbane, ct i rurale, a stilurilorartistice vechi.2

Alturi de acest muzeu, dininiiativa aceluiai custode inimos,dr. Josef Bacon, va lua inntr-o anex a Turnului cu Ceas,n anul 1912,Muzeul de Igien, carecuprindea peste 700 de plane igrace cu privire la epidemiile careau lovit oraul i altele cu privirela evoluia demograc a urbei.La acesta se va mai aduga Muzeulde etnograe sseasc, organizat nCasa cu indril din anul 1908 iMuzeul colar n sacristia Bisericii

Mnstirii n 1932.3

n aceast iniiativ, din anul 1904,Josef Bacon a fost sprijinit materiali nanciar, dup cum am artat,de ctre Asociatia Sebastian Hanndin Sighioara. Alturi de aceastasociaie, printre colaboratori maigsim pe Karl Seraphin, BettySchuller, Friederich Meltzer, JuliusHollitzer, Julius Misselbacher

(1903-1963). Ultimul dintre acetiaa avut o important contribuiela cunoaterea i sistematizareatiinic a primelor colecii alemuzeului.

Muzeul de isTorie sighioara

110 ani

Nicolae TesculaDirector,

Muzeul de Istorie Sighioara

1Richard AcknerDas Bacon-Buch. Von

Mosel an die Koklel.

Familiengeschichte.

Familiendruck undfr SiebenbrgischeBibliotek

Gundelsheim,2002, p. 77.Familiengeschichte.Familiendruck und

fr SiebenbrgischeBibliotekGundelsheim,

2002, p. 77.

2Die Schburger

Museen, Friedrich

Horedth Verlag,Sighisoara, 1933,p. 2.

3Ibidem, pp. 4-10.


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REVISTA MUZEELOR

Nici romnii nu se vor lsa maiprejos i, n anul 1937, ntr-o cas

nchiriat n oraul de jos, etnografuli folcloristul Gheorghe Cernea,nvtor din Palo-Ardeal, vapune bazele unui muzeu etnogracromnesc Muzeul EtnogracTrnvean.4

Perioada comunist aducemodicri de substan n evoluiamuzeelor sighiorene. n 1952ntreaga colecie a muzeului ssesca fost naionalizat, noua instituieorganizndu-se doar n Turnul cuCeas. Numele instituiei a variatn aceast perioad. De la MuzeulRaionului Sighioara n 1952 vaprimi n 1968 dup reorganizareaadministrativ denominaia deMuzeul Municipal Sighioara i maiapoi de Muzeul de Istorie Sighioara,

nume pe care l poart i azi.Dup arestarea lui Gheorghe

Cernea n anii 1950 colecia sade etnograe romneasc esteconscat i mprit altor instituiimuzeale. La Sighioara va rmnedoar colecia de icoane pe lemn ipe sticl.5

n anii 1970 muzeul va primicteva camere la etajul doi al Casei

Vlad Dracul, unde va organizato expoziie de armament medieval.Coabitarea cu un restaurant naceeai cldire nu era una normali de aceea n anul 1988 expoziiava mutat la parterul claselorprimare ale Liceului Josef Haltrich,unde se gsete i astzi.

Anul 1999 duce la amenajareavechii nchisori militare a orauluiaat la parterul Turnului cu Ceas.Aici va organizat o Camer deTortur cu obiecte i imagini careredau proceduri de tortur dinCodex Criminalis Teresiana (1769),ultimul cod penal care a permis nmonarhia habsburgic utilizareatorturii ca mijloc de anchetpenal.

La acest ceas aniversar nuputem dect s mulumimnaintailor pentru tot ceea ce aufcut n domeniul muzeograei laSighioara i s le ducem misiuneamai departe, s dezvoltm instituian concordan cu noile paradigmeale secolului XXI.

4Adriana Antihi,

Despre activitatea

muzeelor din

Sighioaran Vatra, 6, 2006,

p. 20.

5Ibidem, p. 21.

Documents

2009_02_01The History Museum of Sighişoara