Kolumba
Encyclopedia
The Kolumba is an art museum in Cologne
, Germany
. It is located on the site of the former St. Columba
church, and run by the Archdiocese of Cologne
. It is one of the oldest museums in the city, alongside the Wallraf-Richartz Museum
.
Until 2007 it was located near Cologne Cathedral
. Its new home, built from 2003-07, was designed by Peter Zumthor
and inaugurated by Joachim Meisner. The site was originally occupied by the romanesque Church of St. Columba, which was destroyed in World War II
and replaced in 1950 by a Gottfried Böhm
chapel nicknamed the "Madonna of the Ruins".
to the present. Apart from a few works on permanent display, the presentation features a regularly changing selection of the museum's holdings. The items are generally displayed without accompanying text, and in no particular chronological or stylistic order.
Highlights include:
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is located on the site of the former St. Columba
Columba of Sens
Saint Columba of Sens was a saintly virgin associated with Sens in France and a fountain named d'Azon.Her whole history is somewhat legendary. It is reported that, at the age of 16, she fled Spain for Gaul to escape the persecutions of Emperor Aurelian. She was located, and imprisoned...
church, and run by the Archdiocese of Cologne
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne
The Archdiocese of Cologne is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.-History:...
. It is one of the oldest museums in the city, alongside the Wallraf-Richartz Museum
Wallraf-Richartz Museum
The Wallraf-Richartz-Museum is one of the three major museums in Cologne, Germany. It houses an art gallery with a collection of fine art from the medieval period to the early twentieth century...
.
History
The museum was founded by the Society for Christian Art in 1853, and taken over by the Archdiocese of Cologne in 1989.Until 2007 it was located near Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site...
. Its new home, built from 2003-07, was designed by Peter Zumthor
Peter Zumthor
Peter Zumthor is a Swiss architect and winner of the 2009 Pritzker Prize.-Early life:Zumthor was born in Basel, the son of a cabinet-maker...
and inaugurated by Joachim Meisner. The site was originally occupied by the romanesque Church of St. Columba, which was destroyed in World War II
Bombing of Cologne in World War II
The City of Cologne was bombed in 262 separate air raids by the Allies during World War II, including 31 times by the Royal Air Force . Air raid alarms went off in the winter/spring of 1940 as enemy bombers passed overhead. However, the first actual bombing took place on 12 May 1940...
and replaced in 1950 by a Gottfried Böhm
Gottfried Böhm
Gottfried Böhm is a German architect.Böhm was born into a family of architects in Offenbach, Hessen. His father, Dominikus Böhm, is renowned for having built several churches throughout Germany. His grandfather was also an architect. After graduating from Technical University of Munich in 1946, he...
chapel nicknamed the "Madonna of the Ruins".
Collection
The collection includes paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, decorative art and religious icons from Late AntiquityLate Antiquity
Late Antiquity is a periodization used by historians to describe the time of transition from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in both mainland Europe and the Mediterranean world. Precise boundaries for the period are a matter of debate, but noted historian of the period Peter Brown proposed...
to the present. Apart from a few works on permanent display, the presentation features a regularly changing selection of the museum's holdings. The items are generally displayed without accompanying text, and in no particular chronological or stylistic order.
Highlights include:
- The Hermann Ida Cross, an 11th-century processional crossProcessional CrossA processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions. Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according to Bede. Other sources suggest that all churches were...
made of gilded bronze. - A 12th-century ivoryIvory carvingIvory carving is the carving of ivory, that is to say animal tooth or tusk, by using sharp cutting tools, either mechanically or manually. The ancient craft has now virtually ceased, as since CITES it is illegal under most circumstances throughout the world....
crucifix in romanesque Rhenish or MosanMosan artMosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque art, with Mosan Romanesque architecture, stone carving, metalwork, enamelling...
style. - A collection of rosariesRosaryThe rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
. - Stefan LochnerStefan Lochnerthumb|300px|Madonna in the Rose Bower .Stefan Lochner was a German late Gothic painter.His style, famous for its clean appearance, combined Gothic attention towards long flowing lines with brilliant colours with a Flemish influenced realism and attention to detail...
: Madonna with the Violet (pre-1450). - Paul ThekPaul ThekPaul Thek was an American painter and, later, sculptor and installation artist. Born in Brooklyn, he studied locally, at the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute. In 1951 he entered the Cooper Union....
: Shrine (1969). - Jannis KounellisJannis KounellisJannis Kounellis was born on March 23, 1936 in Piraeus, Greece. He studied in art college in Athens until 1956 and at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome....
: Tragedia civile (1975). - A large collection of works by Leiko IkemuraLeiko Ikemurais a Japanese-Swiss painter and sculptor.-Biography:Leiko Ikemura left her country to study in Spain from 1973 to 1978 at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Granada and Seville. In 1979, Ikemura moved to Zurich to live and worked there for 4 years. The first of her mature paintings developed around 1980...
.
Awards
- 2008: Hanns-Schaefer Prize from the Cologne Home- and Landowners Association.
- 2008: Prize for Architecture in Germany from the German Architecture MuseumGerman Architecture MuseumThe German Architecture Museum is located on the Museumsufer in Frankfurt, Germany. Housed in an 18th-century building, the interior has been re-designed by Oswald Mathias Ungers in 1984 as a set of "elemental Platonic buildings within elemental Platonic buildings".The museum organises several...
in FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. - 2008: Brick Award for contemporary European brickBrickA brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
architecture from WienerbergerWienerbergerWienerberger AG is the world’s largest producer of bricks, and the second-largest European manufacturer of clay roof tiles. It is based in Vienna, Austria...
. - 2008: Energy-Efficient Architecture in Germany Prize (third class) from the Wüstenrot Foundation.
- 2008: Praemium ImperialePraemium ImperialeThe Praemium Imperiale is an arts prize awarded since 1989 by the imperial family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association in the fields painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and theatre/film...
(category: architecture) from the Japan Art Association, awarded to Zumthor. - 2009: Museum Prize for Curators and Exhibition Hosts from the Kulturstiftung hbs.
- 2010: Cologne Architecture Prize from the Association of the Cologne Architecture Prize.
See also
- List of museums in Cologne
- Franz Johann Joseph BockFranz Johann Joseph BockFranz Johann Joseph Bock was a German theologian, archaeologist, and art historian.- Early life :Bock was born in the town of Burtscheid on March 5, 1823. He was the son of Franz Joseph Bock Burtscheider , who was a lifeguard. His mother, Agnes Dotru, died when Bock was a young child...
- one of the founding fathers