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Every year, in the 13th Collector's Room on the upper floor of the Staufer Chapel, we present the museum as a collector with a selection of our new acquisitions.
 
New exhibition

We collect!
New Objects for the Historisches Museum starting 9.3.2023


Collectors are educated and well-read, curious and communicative, creative and ambitious, manic and sometimes hypochondriac, but above all generous. They donate their collections. Withour collectors and donors, there would be no museums. No museums in Frankfurt, no Historisches Museum Frankfurt. For it belongs 'to the peculiar life of the Frankfurter that he collects and arranges; the one capital, bills of exchange, and cash of different kinds, the other rarities and treasures from the rich areas of antiquity, art, and nature' (Kirchner 1818). That is the focus of the permanent exhibition 'Collectors and Donors of Frankfurt' on the four floors of the Burnitz Building.

Today professional collectors work at the Historisches Museum – the curators, whose job it is to oversee and expand the differend collections. They talk to artists, visit art dealers, and study auction catalogues in search of paintings and sculptures, prints and photographs, clothing, coins, and everyday objects dating from Frankfurt's past and present. Again and again, friends and patrons from Frankfurt and all over the world vontact the curators because they want to donate special collections or individual items.

But not everything can be had for free. Many a rare or high-quality object has its price. The members of the SaalhofClub, the Freunde & Förderer (friends and patrons), and various foundations support the museum year after year with important contributions to enable the purchase of such treasures for its collections. Every one of them is likewise a donor. We are most grateful to them all for their generosity.

Metzler 1674-2024: Bankers in Frankfurt

March 8 – June 23, 2024 in the 13th Collector's Room of the Historical Museum 

In 1674, Benjamin Metzler founded a trading company in Frankfurt that dealt in woolen and linen cloth, as well as yarns, flax and clothing. The associated long-distance trade meant that money transactions also played an increasingly important role. By the end of the 18th century, the company had undergone a transformation from a trading house to a banking house that was exemplary for many private banks in Frankfurt and has remained entirely family-owned to this day.
The history of Bankhaus Metzler is closely linked to that of Frankfurt as a financial center: Not only has it been the main place of business here since 1674, but from 1742 onwards, owners of the bank were almost without exception represented on the board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The cabinet exhibition in the 13th Collector's Room impressively traces 350 years of company history with objects from the company archive and the museum's collection that have never been shown before: About crises and wars, Frankfurt's first female banker and the development of banking operations, from government bonds to financial services and asset management. 
A printed tour guid through the permanent exhibition on the city's history ("Frankfurt Once?") leads to 30 objects connected with the history of the bank and the Metzler family.

Supported by 
Bankhaus B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

Curator
Nathalie Angersbach
nathalie.angersbach[at]stadt-frankfurt.de

Press and Public Relations
Karin Berrío
+49 69 212-37776, mobil +49 151 51430803
karin.berrio[at]stadt-frankfurt.de

Thomas Engel
thomas.engel[at]stadt-frankfurt.de

Every year, in the 13th Collector's Room on the upper floor of the Staufer Chapel, we present the museum as a collector with a selection of our new acquisitions.
 
New exhibition

We collect!
New Objects for the Historisches Museum starting 9.3.2023


Collectors are educated and well-read, curious and communicative, creative and ambitious, manic and sometimes hypochondriac, but above all generous. They donate their collections. Withour collectors and donors, there would be no museums. No museums in Frankfurt, no Historisches Museum Frankfurt. For it belongs 'to the peculiar life of the Frankfurter that he collects and arranges; the one capital, bills of exchange, and cash of different kinds, the other rarities and treasures from the rich areas of antiquity, art, and nature' (Kirchner 1818). That is the focus of the permanent exhibition 'Collectors and Donors of Frankfurt' on the four floors of the Burnitz Building.

Today professional collectors work at the Historisches Museum – the curators, whose job it is to oversee and expand the differend collections. They talk to artists, visit art dealers, and study auction catalogues in search of paintings and sculptures, prints and photographs, clothing, coins, and everyday objects dating from Frankfurt's past and present. Again and again, friends and patrons from Frankfurt and all over the world vontact the curators because they want to donate special collections or individual items.

But not everything can be had for free. Many a rare or high-quality object has its price. The members of the SaalhofClub, the Freunde & Förderer (friends and patrons), and various foundations support the museum year after year with important contributions to enable the purchase of such treasures for its collections. Every one of them is likewise a donor. We are most grateful to them all for their generosity.