Toytown Germany

The Hypokunsthalle in Munich regularly hosts special exhibitions. It is currently playing host to a spectacular exhibition showcasing the differences, similarities, and influences of the jewellers Fabergé and Cartier (This exhibition Finished April 2004). Karl Fabergé started his career in St. Petersburg. There he produced jewellery and other precious objects for the rich and famous. He is most famous for his intricate Easter Eggs. Two of the eggs now on display in Munich only came to light very recently and have never been exhibited before. The Russian people have traditionally celebrated Easter in the way that the western world celebrates Christmas. The famous jewelled eggs reflect this tradition.

[img]http://www.toytowngermany.com/munich/faberge-egg.jpg[/img]

The exhibition offers a short history of Fabergé and Cartier focussing on the period between 1900 and 1917. This period was the run up to the Russian revolution as well as the heyday of Fabergé and the rise of Cartier. Many of the objects on display were smuggled out in the hand luggage of the Tsar's extended family as they fled Russia. The Tsar himself and his immediate family were executed in the cellar of their palace in St. Petersburg. The exhibition also has objects from the Kremlin Museum and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. There are also paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow which have never been shown in Germany before as well as a number of items of clothing from the royal wardrobes.

As opposed to Fabergé, Cartier is less well-known in his capacity as supplier to the Tsars and more for the objects he created for the Western European and American markets. The objects themselves are an insurers nightmare. Over 800 treasures with gold, enamel, precious stones as far as the eye can see. The exhibition is well worth a visit if you like looking at things you can't afford!

Tip: Go on a blauer Montag - the entrance fee is half price on any Monday that isn't a public holiday (€4 for an adult instead of the normal €8).

Facilties: There is a cloakroom and it is worth the 80 cents to hand in your coats and bags if only to make sure your elbows are free and well sharpened. I went on a blauer Montag by accident as opposed to by design and found I needed to employ a fair amount of elbow to actually get anywhere near the showcases. However, I suspect it was particularly busy that afternoon because it was the Monday before a public holiday. The museum also has a small shop and a cafe.

The Fabergé - Cartier Exhibition
Hypokunsthalle (part of the Fünf Höfe)
Theatinerstrasse 8, City Center
S/U-Bahn Marienplatz
Tel. 089 224412

Open daily: 10am to 8pm
...from 28.Nov.2003 til 12.Apr.2004

Website: Hypokunsthalle

I remember going (several times) to the Hypobank Faberge exhibition back in 86/87 where they had at least six of the major eggs on display. The reason I am writing ( if you'll pardon me for splitting hairs) is to correct you a little. The Russian Imperial family were not shot in the basement of their palace in St.Petersberg, but a vast distance from there in a house in Ekatarinberg in the Urals, where they had been held prisoners for some time. Compared to the St.Petersberg winterpalace this house was a mere hovel. - Otherwise great website. As a former resident of Munich I enjoy reading this site alot. Keep up the good work!

It's not yet proven that the Tsar was shot in Ekatarinberg. Only this week scientists have cast doubt on DNA fingerprints of the bodies found in that house.

Quoting from Wired News: Czar DNA Mystery:

The glamorous Romanovs, the ruling dynasty of Russia, lost power during the Bolshevik resolution in 1917. Czar Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra and their children -- Alexis, Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, all of whom were in their teens or early 20s -- were packed off to a home in Siberia.

Late one night, according to witnesses, their imprisonment ended as all were shot to death in a basement by a firing squad, along with their doctor, three servants and Anastasia's pet King Charles spaniel.

In 1991, as the Soviet Union fell apart, researchers exhumed nine bodies from a bog near Ekaterinburg in Siberia. Tests on mitochondrial DNA -- handed down by mothers -- confirmed genetic links between the bodies of four females and Great Britain's Prince Philip, who is related to Empress Alexandra.

In a newly released report, the scientists declare that the testing of remains found in Siberia was shoddy and flawed. They add that their own tests on the preserved finger of the sister of the czar's wife raise even more questions about the original findings.