2002 Council of Europe Museum Prize

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Programme
The European Museum Forum
The Council of Europe Museum Prize
2002 Council of Europe Museum Prize
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PRESENTATION CEREMONY

Tuesday 23 April 2002 at 7.30 pm., Palais Rohan, Strasbourg

Programme 

Speakers

Mayor of Strasbourg

Member of the Jury of the European Museum Forum

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Director

Presentation of the 2002 Council of Europe Museum Prize

to Buddenbrookhaus - Lübeck, Germany

The Museum is represented by its Director, Dr Hans Wisskirchen

The European Museum Forum is represented by Dr Mikhail Gnedovsky, Open Society Institute, Moscow

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The European Museum Forum 

The European Museum Forum is associated with the Council of Europe and is involved throughout the cultural and economic field. It:

· organises the annual European Museum of the Year Award for newly built or restored museums
· publishes a brochure describing the entrants and winners of the European of the European Museum of the Year Award
· organises a 3-day conference to support the Award Ceremony
· provides international Workshops lasting one week to raise the expertise of museum practionners
· organises Lectures that take place each year in a different city and deal with themes that are of particular importance for the museum world
· publishes a Magazine that discusses major developments and issues in the museum field
· offers a European Museum Consultancy Service
· gives individuals, professional organisations and institutions the chance to become a Member of the European Forum Association and to receive all the publications produced by the Forum a well as the invitation to the meetings in their own country
· has an archive in Berlin, accessible to researchers, which contains information about every candidate who has entered the European Museum of the Year Award since 1977.

The European Museum Forum is:

· An independent and non-profit-making that has developed from the European Museum of the Year Award scheme which was founded in 1977
· Committed to raising the standard of museums throughout Europe
· A point of reference for the whole museum scene
· An information centre with wide access
· The organiser of meetings to increase experience and knowledge.

HM Queen Fabiola of Belgium is Patron of the Forum. The Chairman is Dr Patrick Greene (Director of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester).

Further documentation, and application forms for the awards, can be obtained by writing either to
Ann Nicholls, Administrator
The European Museum Forum
PO Box 913 – GB - Bristol BS99 5ST
Telephone: (44) 117 923 8897 Fax: (44) 117 973 2437

or to the Secretariat of the Committee on Culture, Science and Education
Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe
(F) 67075 Strasbourg CEDEX
Telephone: (33.3) 88 41 30 81 Fax: (33.3) 88 41 27 97

The Council of Europe Museum Prize 

The aim of the prize is to encourage the contribution of museums to a greater understanding of the rich diversity of European culture. The prize is determined by the Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Culture, Science and Education on the basis of recommendations made by the European Museum Forum.

Past Council of Europe awards have been made to:

Joan Mirò Foundation, Barcelona (Spain); 1977
Bryggen Museum, Bergen (Norway); 1978
Museum der Stadt Rüsselsheim (Germany); 1979
Monaghan County Museum (Republic of Ireland); 1980
Stockholm Music Museum (Sweden); 1981
Ålands Museum, Mariehamn (Finland); 1982
Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz (Austria); 1983
Musée Vivant du Canal du Centre, Thieu (Belgium); 1984
The Boat Museum, Ellesmere Port (United Kingdom); 1984
Heimatmuseum-Neukölln, Berlin (Germany); 1987
Museo del Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales, Madrid (Spain); 1988
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich (Germany); 1988
Joods Historisch Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands); 1989
Museum da Água Manuel da Maia, Lisbon (Portugal); 1990
Deutsches Salzmuseum, Lüneburg (Germany); 1991
Museo delle valli d'Argenta, Argenta (Italy); 1992
Kobariški Muzej, Kobarid (Slovenia); 1993
Istanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri Müdürlügü, Istanbul (Turkey); 1993
Lapin Maakuntamuseo, Rovaniemi (Finland); 1994
Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn (Germany); 1995
Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst - MAK, Vienna (Austria); 1996
Kindermuseum (Childrens' Museum), KIT Amsterdam (Netherlands); 1997
Krasnoyarsk Museum Centre (Russian Federation), 1998
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille (France), 1999
In Flanders Fields, Ypres (Belgium), 2000
Teatterimuseo, Helsinki (Finland); 2001

The trophy is a bronze statuette La femme aux beaux seins by Joan Miró that was donated to the Council of Europe for this prize. It is accompanied by a diploma and a cheque.

2002 Council of Europe Museum Prize 

Buddenbrookhaus, Lübeck, Allemagne

The house, the home of Thomas Mann grandparents and the setting of the plot of his best-known novel, Buddenbrooks, was completely rebuilt in 2000 to mark the 125^th anniversary of the novelist’s birth. Two new permanent exhibits, a large multi-purpose area, a documentation centre and a museum shop were added. The house also includes the Heinrich and Thomas Mann Centre.

Exhibits are divided between the history of the Mann family and the world of the fictional Buddenbrooks family. As well as biographical information on Thomas and Heinrich Mann, the later works of Klaus, Erika and Golo Mann are also represented, together with those of Frido Mann, Thomas Mann’s grandson, who has continued the family writing tradition.

The former living quarters of the Mann family on the third floor contain, besides the documentation centre, exhibits relating to the creation of the Buddenbrooks novel and essential characters, the story of the Nobel Prize Thomas Mann was awarded in 1929 largely for this work, literary criticism of the novel and the film versions of 1923, 1959 and 1979.

The museum was commended by the jury for combining exhibits on Thomas Mann’s life and work with emphasis on reading in European culture in an era of new information technology. It was also praised for breaking new ground in the world of museums devoted to literature.