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The Erich Kästner Museum Dresden
The Erich Kästner Museum Dresden, founded in January 1999, was established
to create a differentiated, contemporary centre dedicated to the memory
of the multi-faceted life and works of Erich Kästner. The museum is a
communication forum for all who are interested in Erich Kästner's life
and works. Main themes are, among others, Kästner and his early years
in Dresden/Leipzig, Kästner "... the man between the chairs", the reluctant
outsider, Kästner and children as the "positive others", and Kästner and
the media. Our public events include both traditional readings, lectures
and discussions and experimental art events. Contemporary artists are
invited to enter their projects in the database of the Erich Kästner Museum
during brief working trips. We would like to encourage our partners in
Dresden and outside Dresden in the literature/library sectors, theatre,
film and media to present their own Kästner events.
Interested parties have witnessed the public growth of the museum since
19/02/1999 on our "construction site" and supported us. The
micromuseum-to-be was simulated with an specially-made exhibition structure
and its implementation was illustrated with changing presentations. Assembled
material was documented using audio and imaging technology at the beginning
of the second planning phase, and visitors were encouraged to become involved.
The museum already has a considerable circle of friends, individuals and
representatives from cultural, economic, scientific, political and media
fields. A committee of experts advises the museum society on Kästner-specific
topics.
The museum structure itself is not the only interactive phenomenon, its
very growth is interactively. The objective is to largely to make do without
financial aid from the state. Approximately DM 12,000 was raised by selling
the 200 Gubener felt hats at family festivities, at the special Kästner
events and in shops in Dresden. These donations were doubled by the matching
fund of the Bürgerstiftung Dresden, as were the payments in kind.
In this way, the Erich Kästner Museum had over DM 85,000 at its disposal
and was able to finance the planning services of the Deutschen Werkstätten
Hellerau and purchase content for the museum. As the willingness to donate
did not diminish, the first museum financed by the public was completed
by Erich Kästner's 101st birthday (23/2/2000). The first "module",
a multimedia time machine, has been open to visitors since then. Audio,
video and computer technology with internet access offer visitors material
on Erich Kästner's life and works.
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