Hesse's museums: Hidden treasures in storage, from van Gogh frames to extinct birds

Museums across Germany's Hesse region house extensive collections, but a significant majority of these artifacts remain hidden from public view, stored away in depots. These storage facilities are described as vital 'heart chambers' that can 'pump fresh blood into the exhibition' by providing rotating pieces and inspiring new displays, according to Justus Lange, director of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel.

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The depot is like a heart chamber that constantly pumps fresh blood into the exhibition.

The Gemäldegalerie itself holds over 2,000 paintings, with only about 500 on display at any given time. The remaining 1,500 works are either in storage or shown elsewhere. All pieces in the collection are documented in an online database, and the depots undergo regular inspections to ensure stable climate conditions, including consistent temperature and humidity, and regular dusting.

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We go through and check if everything is okay.

Among the notable items stored is an original, empty frame from Vincent van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet" at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. This museum's depots hold approximately 3,000 paintings and sculptures, and over 100,000 drawings and prints. The Städel's collection is nearly fully digitized, facilitating research and international collaboration. Around 1,000 works are presented in permanent exhibitions, with about 230 loaned annually to global exhibitions.

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An exceptionally extraordinary exhibit is the original, empty picture frame of the painting 'Portrait of Dr. Gachet' by Vincent van Gogh.

The Wiesbaden State Museum showcases a different kind of hidden treasure. Its art section has about 12,500 works in storage, while its natural history collection comprises 1.2 million objects. For a recent exhibition on 'Brutpflege - Love Without Words,' nearly all items, except for a frog ladder, were retrieved from the depot. These included a chimpanzee family from 1908 and a hammer fowl from 1875, preserved thanks to diligent storage management.

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That we have such well-preserved specimens in the house is, of course, due to the fact that our depot manager and her predecessors have paid attention to good storage conditions.