Stadtmuseum Kassel

Description

The Stadtmuseum Kassel is located at Ständeplatz in Kassel-Mitte and documents and communicates the history of the northern Hessian city.

Since its founding in 1979 the museum has been housed in the Kulturhaus, a building erected between 1869 and 1871 that has been altered several times. After financial difficulties and a municipal acquisition at the end of the 19th century the building acquired additional uses and electric lighting, and it was rebuilt from 1953 to 1955 following wartime destruction. Most recently the Kulturhaus was comprehensively refurbished and extended between 2010 and 2016.

Collections on Kassel’s history already existed in the 19th century but were dispersed across the town hall, the Kunstgewerbemuseum, the library, the Marstall and other locations and were partly transferred to the Hessisches Landesmuseum. The formal establishment of the Stadtmuseum was decided in 1978; exhibition objects were initially deposited in the city archives. In the years that followed several listed buildings were discussed as possible permanent locations. Temporarily, in 1979 the museum set up its administration in the Kulturhaus and in 1983 opened three exhibition rooms there after a neighbouring library had moved.

In the 1990s the museum expanded its space, among other things by taking over rooms that became available in the Kulturhaus, and developed the permanent exhibition on Kassel’s 20th-century history. In 2001 the museum gained a direct connection to the Kasseler Verkehrs-Gesellschaft’s local transport network.

Between 2001 and 2016 extensive renovation and extension works were undertaken. Among other measures an elevator was installed, historic fabric was uncovered and various expansion options were examined. The planned extension with a distinctive tower was repeatedly subject to delays, the discovery of pollutants and rising costs. After completion of the works in 2013–2015 the usable area increased significantly; total costs amounted to around 11.9 million euros, supplemented by a further grant from state funds prior to the reopening.

Following the final installation of the new permanent exhibition the Stadtmuseum Kassel was reopened on 18 June 2016. Prior to this the museum used the new tower for the exhibition "Utopie documenta" on unpublished documenta projects; shortly after the reopening the museum showed photographs from the estate of the Eberth family of photographers. The permanent exhibition is located on the upper three storeys of the wing that leads away from Ständeplatz; museum education and an event hall are housed in the basement. Administration and the on-site reference library are located in the wing facing Ständeplatz.