Press

Icon Museum

Dr Jörgen Schmidt-Voigt's foundation

Current Information:

6 June 2023
Opening: Presentation of the Ethiopian collection at the Icon Museum

Press conference: 11 am
Exhibition opening: 7 pm

New concert series at the Icon Museum
Brückenkonzerte begin March 31, 2023.

From March to November 2023, the Ikonenmuseum, a department of the Museum Angewandte Kunst located in Frankfurt’s Brückenstraße, invites to concerts with various ensembles and soloists in the exhibition hall. Developed by pianist Leonhard Dering and with the assistance of curator Dr. Konstanze Runge, the concert series brings together musical works of European and Ukrainian contemporary and modern music.

The concert series is sponsored by the Department of Culture and Science of the City of Frankfurt.

May 11, 2023

Ukrainian-born pianist Kirill Zvegintsov plays works by arguably the most important Ukrainian composer of the present day, Valentin Silvestrov, as well as by Ludwig van Beethoven. Five piano pieces as well as the Piano Sonatas No. 1 and 2 by Valentin Silvestrov will be juxtaposed with the 33 Diabelli Variations by Ludwig van Beethoven.

March 31, 2023

The ensemble musique lucide (CH) opens with the “Quatuor pour la fin du temps” (1941) by Olivier Messiaen and “Inzwischen. Sieben Interludien” (2022) by Christoph Blum open the Brückenkonzerte at the Icon Museum.

Concerts begin at 7 pm each night.

Ticket reservations should be made to: brueckenkonzerte@posteo.de. The number of seats is limited. The reserved tickets can be picked up at the box office with cash payment for 8 EUR (budget), 15 EUR (regular) or 25 EUR (soli). Admission is from 18.30 clock. There is free seating in the exhibition hall and in the gallery.

After more than a year of alterations and renovations, the Icon Museum in Frankfurt am Main is reopening with an entirely new exhibition space and concept. Under the direction of Prof. Matthias Wagner K and the curatorial leadership of Dr des. Konstanze Runge, who has held the position since September 2019, the museum places the relationship between people and icons at the centre of focus in its completely renewed exhibition.

Following extensive conservation and restoration measures, the 130 selected icons and religious objects reveal an entirely fresh magnificence. At the same time, the rather typical traces of use were carefully conserved as a sign of the relationship between people and their icons. The icons are presented mostly without glass and at eye level. It is mainly the valuable and metal icons as well as small objects that are protected by glass and showcases.

In a city with more than 14 Orthodox Christian churches and characterised by rich cultural diversity, the Icon Museum wishes not only to be a place for the preservation of cultural heritage, but also to be a space of encounter to which all are invited and which contributes to a successful coexistence of peoples from different cultural, religious and non-religious backgrounds.

As of now, the Icon Museum in Frankfurt has a free smartphone app that allows visitors to get to know the contents of the exhibition digitally in German, English and Russian. The heart of the app is the multimedia guide. Here, users can listen to audio contributions and read texts that refer to different contents and icons.

Download for iOS / Download for Android

Press Release

Art and Religion in Conversation January–June 2023

We illuminate special icons from our collection from a theological as well as cultural studies and art historical perspective. A warm invitation to get closer to the stories, meanings and messages of icons in our time in this way. The talks are held in German, once a month, from 6.30 – 7.30 pm.

Speaker:
Dr. Konstanze Runge, Icon Museum
Katja Schenk, Dipl.-Rest.
Simone Seyboldt, M.A.
Rev. David Schnell, Evangelische Stadtkirchenarbeit Museumsufer
Dr. Stefan Scholz, KARM

January 18
Not only at Christmas time
New additions to Christmas icons.

February 15
Dragonslayer, Martyr King, Soldier of Mary
Saint George in Ethiopia

March 15
When the halo crumbles
Workshop talk with a restorer

April 12
Not made by man
Face of Christ and Mandylion

May 17
Ethiopian Crosses Forms, Symbolism, Rituals

June 14 Wonderfully sheltered
Angels in Orthodoxy