Modern History of Germany at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum

By Dean Gregory, to Museum Spotlight Europe 

As the first museum in Cologne, the German city known for its spectacular Gothic cathedral, the Wallraf-Richartz represents a living organism growing and evolving with the help of various benefactors for over 100 years. The museum houses a remarkable array of art spanning centuries reflecting the glory and tumult of Western Civilization. The initial collection represents the splendor of Christian Europe, while latter additions cultivated during the 20^th century exhibit the secular changes characteristic of modern art. 

The Foundation of the Collection

As secularization swept over Europe during the Enlightenment, Franz Ferdinand Wallraf, born in 1759, amassed a collection of principally Christian religious art as the initial acquisitions, including altar pieces, paintings, books, drawings, as well as coins, among other objets d’art. The most notable pieces from the early collection of the institution reflect the emphasis of harvesting discarded religious art of the 18^th and 19^th centuries by Franz Ferdinand Wallraf. Specifically, the great patron gathered the remnants of church art from collegiate institutions and monasteries facing dissolution during the age of Napoleon. 

Portrait of Franz Ferdinand Wallraf by Johann Anton de Peters

Wallraf collected Vittore Carpaccio’s The Ursula Cycle, which represents a visual depiction of a medieval story which reached the status of a “Bestseller” of the day. A work consisting of 15 panels, the piece tells the story of the saint Ursula, a mythic princess, bride, pilgrim, and Christian martyr of the 4th century. The story follows the saint and 11,000 virgins who accompanied her on a doomed pilgrimage from England to Rome. Ursula’s journey took her through Germany where she and her party were all murdered at the hands of the Huns. At first, the loss of 11,000 martyrs seemed exaggerated; however, excavations of a Roman burial site near the formal gates of the city at the time began to lend credence to the legend. In particular, in 1106, the construction of a new city wall in Cologne precipitated more concentrated digs. Other items of note include Piper and Drummer by Albrect Dürer, Stefan Lochner’s Madonna in the Rose-Bower, as well as the Altarpiece of the Holy Cross by the unknown “Master of the St. Bartholomew Altarpiece.”

Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1465 – c. 1526). Apotheosis of Saint Ursula (1491). Tempera and oil on canvas, 481 x 335 cm.

Upon Wallraf’s passing in 1824, the city of Cologne marveled at the sheer scope of what he had assembled and eagerly sought a space to house the lifetime achievement of the patron. Wallraf had declared explicitly regarding the legacy of his collection: “I hereby designate my native town, the City and Municipality of Cologne, as heir to my entire estate.” Yet, it took decades before the original site for the museum was constructed and opened on July 1, 1861.

Matthias Joseph de Noël, a writer and painter in Cologne as well as a friend of Wallraf, served as the initial curator of the collection coordinating a provisional arrangement in the Trankgasse, which served as the previous living quarters of the archbishops of Cologne. By 1854, growing urgency emerged for constructing a museum exclusively dedicated to the collection. With the help of a significant financial gift from Johann Heinrich Richartz, the city leaders of Cologne acquiesced to break ground on a new site, whereby in seven years the Wallraf-Richartz Museum opened with great enthusiasm. 

The 20^th Century and the New Collection

Echoing the change and tumult Germany experienced during the 20^th century, the Wallraf-Richartz evolved in confronting conflict and bloomed as a reinvented institution. The museum features Impressionist masterpieces, including Les Fiancés by Renoir; Water Lilies by Monet; and Capo di Noli by Paul Signac. Modern works of note include Vincent van Gogh’s The Drawbridge; The Bleaching Ground by Max Liebermann; as well as Edvard Munch’s Four Girls on a Bridge. 

Edvard Munch Four Girls on the Bridge 1905, Oil on canvas, 126 x 126 cm.

Photo by Rheinisches Bildarchiv Köln

Several of the pieces in the institution result from the generosity of the Swiss entrepreneur and collector Gérard J. Corboud and his wife, Marisol Corboud, a native of Cologne. In honor of the donation made by the Corbouds the institution operated with the name: “Wallraf Richartz Museum & Fondation Corboud.” The Corbouds donated more than 170 pieces to the space with additional works by Bethe Morisot, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cézanne, and Alfred Sisley.

Up until 1936, which marked the 75^th anniversary of the museum, the space enjoyed tremendous popularity and growth, thereby making it one of the most notable institutions in the country. Citizens in Cologne donated works to the museum, while the overseers of the institution made a series of acquisitions from Old Masters to more modern art, namely Impressionism. In addition, the museum acquired the Carstanjen Collection, featuring notable works by painters such as Franz Hals and the Dutch master Rembrandt. By 1937, history came to Cologne in a manner that scarred the museum. Specifically, the Nazi authorities confiscated from the institution works which the party considered “Degenerate art,” principally paintings by Oskar Kokoschka, Otto Dix, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Max Beckmann as well as Pablo Picasso. Circumstances worsened when a bombing raid over the city in 1943 entirely destroyed the museum, though the remaining artworks had been evacuated prior safely. 

In the aftermath of World War II, Cologne was utterly devastated in a way few German cities other than, perhaps, Dresden had endured. However, the city persevered in embarking upon a long journey of rebirth. Facilitated through the vision and patronage of Josef Haubrich, a lawyer and collector from the city, the museum began to heal. In 1955, Haubrich donated his collection of Modernist and German Expressionist works to replace the works seized by the National Socialists. By 1957, a new building for the museum opened to the public. In 1968, the breadth of the institution’s offerings expanded with a donation by Peter and Irene Ludwig. Over 30 years later, after a few more moves and iterations, the museum found its current location in 2001. 

Other Museums to Consider

In addition to the Wallraf-Richartz and aforementioned Ludwig Collection, Cologne brims with other museums to stir the imagination. For chocolate lovers, foodies, and just the plain curious, the Schokoladenmuseum Köln illuminates the history of chocolate. Beginning with the origins of the food with the ancient Olmec, Maya, and Aztec civilizations in Latin America the space takes the visitor on a journey of the evolution of the delectable delight into contemporary times depicting innovative production methods and subsequent end goods for consumption. Of note on display are refined objets d’art from the 18^th and 19^th centuries utilized to serve chocolate such as silver and porcelain bowls and instruments for drinking chocolate from pre-Columbian times in the New World. 

Likewise, the Museum for East-Asian Arts provides a portal into treasures from China, Japan, and Korea. Established in 1913, the core of the institution revolves around the collection of Adolf and Frieda Fischer, featuring ceramics and lacquer art from Korea, Buddhist paintings and sculpture works, as well as screen paintings and illustrated woodcuts from Japan.

For an intriguing perspective on antiquity, guests should consider a visit to the Romano-Germanic Museum. Neighboring the Ludwig, the institution features an array of artifacts from the Roman settlement called Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, where the current city is constructed. More than a museum, the institution operates as an archaeological site as well. The space resides on the previous Roman town Villa site, featuring an intact mosaic of the Greek god Dionysus. Other elements of the institution to experience are Roman glass works utilized in funeral and burial rituals. Both of the museums as well as the Wallraf-Richartz are located in central Cologne and are easily reached by taxi, public transportation or pedestrian walkway from a selection of centrally located accommodation options. 

[Written July 2024]