The Diözesanmuseum Freising

The history of the Diözesanmuseum Freising (Freising Diocesan Museum) began as early as the 19th century, when the priests and teachers Heinrich Gotthard and Joachim Sighart donated their collections of medieval panel paintings and sculptures to the Freising seminary in 1857 and 1864 respectively, as the basis for a diocesan museum of Christian art. The works of art were presented primarily in the corridors and halls of the seminary building and served the students as instructive objects of church history, while at the same time being useful for aesthetic education. This corresponded to the contemporary conviction that only the artistic styles of the Middle Ages were appropriate for Christian worship. In the following decades the collection grew through further donations and bequests, resulting in 492 works being listed in a first printed catalogue of the collection in 1907. When the Philosophical-Theological College first closed in 1968 and then also the Erzbischöfliche Knabenseminar (Archbishop Boys’ Seminary) on the western slope of Freising’s Domberg in 1972, the diocesan authorities decided to convert the classical seminary building into a museum. The three-storey building with atrium, which had been erected in 1869/70 by Matthias Berger, provided a representative setting for the core collections and numerous ecclesiastical works of art that had become homeless as a result of the liturgical reforms in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.

The Diocesan Museum was opened in 1974. In addition to the permanent exhibition of Christian art from Upper Bavaria and the Alpine region, many special exhibitions were presented on topics related to the history of piety and art history, as well as contemporary art, until the building was closed in the summer of 2013 due to necessary renovation work.

In the years since its closure, the Diözesanmuseum has cooperated under new management with renowned institutions such as the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, the Kunsthalle München and the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice. Annual special exhibitions are also held at the former Beuerberg Monastery south of Wolfratshausen, which was taken over by the archdiocese in 2016. The museum’s collections have grown to well over 50,000 objects, primarily through purchases, donations, bequests, loans and the acquisition of monastic holdings. Special mention should be made of the generous donation of the extensive collection of Byzantine art by the Munich collector Christian Schmidt, as well as the important collection of rosaries and amulets from the Edith Haberland Wagner Foundation, which has been taken over on permanent loan.

After completion of the renovation and careful modernisation of the building, a completely redesigned permanent exhibition and themed special exhibitions will be on display in close succession from June 2022. The Diözesanmuseum can then once again fulfil its specific task of revealing the origins, essence and effectiveness of Christian artistic creation from late antiquity to the present day and thus convey a Christian understanding of the world.

• The objects of "The Diözesanmuseum Freising" available on bavarikon

Exhibitions with the participation of the Diözesanmuseum Freising available in bavarikon

• King Ludwig II of Bavaria – Life, Legacy, Legend