02.07.2014

Museum at the Hardt reopens with new look

On Thursday, 26 June, Deaconess Regine Buschmann, Moderator of the United Evangelical Mission (UEM), officially inaugurated the Museum at the Hardt (formerly the Ethnological Museum) in a formal opening ceremony as part of the UEM General Assembly. Buschmann encouraged UEM members to bring something typical from their churches for the museum when they visit Wuppertal. She congratulated the three-person foundation team for their extraordinary exhibition concept and its design. As a token of her gratitude for the outstanding work, she awarded a Bible from the Amity Foundation in Nanjing to Julia Besten, the Archives and Museum Foundation's executive director, a first step in the continued expansion of the museum’s collections, which have been added to by missionaries for 180 years. There were approximately 100 guests gathered at the museum on Missionsstrasse for the opening ceremony. Attendees included Barbara Rudolph, Rhenish member of the High Consistory and vice-moderator of the UEM. Rudolph emphasised that the foundation’s archives are very important to UEM members. "With this museum, we are passing something very valuable on to the next generation", said Willem Simarmata, the Indonesian deputy chair of the UEM supervisory board. The Museum at the Hardt offers Wuppertal a permanent collection of cult and everyday objects such as ancestral figures, masks, stringed instruments, drums, necklaces and armbands, and shoes, as well as weapons of war such as spears and knives. These items have been sent home from Africa and Asia for decades by missionaries and mission sisters or were brought back with them to Wuppertal. The approximately 450 square metres of artefacts also shed light on the history of the mission, from its beginnings in Wuppertal and Bielefeld-Bethel to its present as an international communion of churches in Africa, Asia, and Germany. They also awaken interest in foreign cultures. Curator Christoph Schwab explained that "one highlight of the collection is the two megalith figures from the island of Nias in Indonesia. Each figure stands over one metre in height and both are an important part of ancestor worship on this small island in the Indian Ocean." The carefully arranged exhibition cases also include selected documents, drawings, engravings, and letters; wall displays offer information on their history and cultural historical context as well as on prominent historical mission figures and mission enemies. They tell an impressive tale of the history of the mission, from its beginnings to the present day. In Schwab’s words, the new concept of the museum is to "integrate the ethnological collection and the mission histories of the two mission societies that preceded the UEM. We wanted to illustrate the various aspects of this history and of the cultures in the former mission areas in Africa and Asia by showing examples, always linking them back to events and people who were involved in the last 180 years in one way or another. This goes both for the history and individual histories of missionaries from Germany as well as for those of men and women from Africa and Asia." Some 280 objects can be seen in the permanent exhibition demonstrating the evolution in mission and cultural history. These include documents, books, and mounted reproductions of historical photographs.  Schwab promised that "the museum will continue to present special exhibitions on various themes at irregular intervals". The museum also offers artists, especially local ones, a forum to present their work. Dr Jens Murken, head of the Regional Church Archives of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia and board member of the foundation, noted that the name "Museum at the Hardt" is meant to represent a "pragmatic and serious new conception of the former Ethnological Museum as a museum of ethnology and mission past and present at the same location as the former museum’s collection. Now that the naming process—not always a simple one—has been completed, the Museum at the Hardt will establish its reputation through its work, its collection, and its education initiatives with the foundation."  "Renovating the museum cost almost a hundred thousand euros", said Julia Besten, executive director of the Archives and Museum Foundation of the UEM. In her address at the ceremony, she referred to the museum’s local and national connection to its parent organisation, the United Evangelical Mission. "The museum is also a part of the city of Wuppertal, with its particular missionary background. But the museum is meant for the members of the UEM, too, as it reflects part of their history." The substantial renovation process forced the Ethnological Museum of the Archives and Museum Foundation of the UEM in Wuppertal to close in November of 2011. The museum was founded in Wuppertal-Barmen in the 1830s in the old museum on Rudolfstrasse. For reasons of space, the ethnographic collection was then moved in the early 1920s to a new location in the new mission house at the Hardt, the training location for aspiring missionaries hoping to serve in Africa and Asia. On Saturday 8 November, the foundation will invite the townspeople of Wuppertal to enjoy a full-day open house. The programme will include guided tours and readings. Trying new things and free play is expressly encouraged: bang on a drum from New Guinea or touch the keys of a harmonium. Information on the Museum at the Hardt The Museum at the Hardt is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. and the first Saturday of every month from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. by request. Special tours for groups can be booked at any time. To register for tours, call (0202) 890 04- 841 or e-mail museum@vemission.org Single ticket: €3; reduced-price ticket: €2; tours: €40 plus reduced-price entry fee. English-language tours: €50 plus reduced-price entry fee. Educational programme: €60 Directions by public transport: At the Wuppertal main train station (Hauptbahnhof), take bus line 643 from bus platform 1 going towards "Kirchliche Hochschule" and get off at the last stop. The museum will be on your left.