Jülich - The Jülich Local History Museum
The Jülich Local History Museum was established in the “Hexenturm” (Witches' Tower) in 1902. When the occupation began after the end of the First World War, the museum was closed. The Jülich History Society, founded in 1923, initiated the reopening, and the voluntary management was taken over by the Jülich wallpaper dealer Max Hermkes. Hermkes went to work with great enthusiasm and rearranged the permanent exhibition. He was guided less by scientific questions than by a fundamental enthusiasm for "antiquities". On the one hand, the lively visitor response proved him right, but on the other hand, he increasingly came into conflict with the board of the Jülich History Society, especially with the chairman, Dr. Anton Kreuser. He fundamentally rejected Max Hermkes' work, so there was no further cooperation between the museum and the history society.
The focus of the Jülich Local History Museum's collection was on historical representations of the city, regional and territorial history, living culture and everyday religious culture. The spatial possibilities in the medieval city gate were extremely limited. The exhibition therefore made a rather disorganized impression.
After the Nazis seized power, the city administration pursued the plan to spread the museum across several buildings in the city and, above all, to include the citadel. This plan met with bitter resistance from Max Hermkes and was therefore not taken up again until after his death in 1940. However, the Second World War prevented all further planning and the collection was ultimately almost completely destroyed.
Keywords: Besatzung, 1923, Museumswesen, Geschichtskultur, Erinnerungskultur
Occupation, 1923, Museums, historical culture, culture of remembrance
Bibliography
Barbara Scheidt, Alterthümer – Ein Rundgang durch das Jülicher Heimatmuseum im Hexenturm 1902–1944, in: Jülicher Geschichtsblätter, Bd. 72/73, 2004/05 (2007), S. 137–182
Credits: Text, Regie: Guido von Büren; Film, Technik: i-frame media GmbH, Markus Uhlenbruck.