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Museum August Kestner, Hannover | Museums - Visit Hannover

Museum

Museum August Kestner

The Museum August Kestner showcases 6,000 years of applied art.

Museum August Kestner

The Museum August Kestner in the dark.

The Museum August Kestner showcases 6,000 years of applied art from ancient and Egyptian cultures, as well as design and a valuable collection of coins and medals. It is named after August Kestner (1777–1853), who, as Hanover’s envoy to Rome, collected Egyptian and Greco-Roman miniature art, paintings, and prints.

View of the special exhibition "Tattoo. Antiquity that gets under your skin". Plaster casts of ancient statues and busts from Leipzig University's Collection of Classical Antiquities are on display.

Museum August Kestner

Exhibitions

In addition to the permanent exhibitions, there are always themed special exhibitions.

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Guided tours & events

Every year, numerous special events and museum festivals provide information on selected themes and individual objects in the collections. The museum’s educational program ensures that guided tours are suitable for children and families, and that art history is taught in seminars in a way that is both fun and accessible even for the youngest visitors.
Special guided tours for hearing and deaf visitors are led by a sign language interpreter. In addition, there are guided tours designed specifically for blind and visually impaired people. 

Interior view of the Museum August Kestner

Interior view of the Museum August Kestner

Stocks

The Egyptian collection showcases ancient Egyptian culture and art from the 4th millennium BCE through the Roman-Christian period. On display are reliefs, sculptures, stelae, and vessels, as well as amulets and funerary objects.
The collection of ancient cultures primarily features artifacts from the Greco-Roman Mediterranean region and the Near East. Greek vases, Etruscan art, bronze and terracotta statues, and everyday objects such as glasses, clay lamps, and bronze tools illustrate life in the Mediterranean region from 1500 BCE to 500 CE. Medieval
manuscripts, textiles, bronzes, and works of art form a significant focus of the collection of European applied arts. Exhibits extending into the present day are represented here.
With 100,000 pieces, the coin collection is the largest in all of Northern Germany. The oldest pieces are from ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, and the Imperial period. 

Exterior of the August Kestner Panorama Museum

Parts of the interior of the house have even been preserved from the original museum building.

The history of the museum

The Museum August Kestner was founded in 1989 by diplomat August Kestner with a diverse collection. After Kestner’s death, his nephew was tasked with transferring the collection to the City of Hanover. Friedrich Culemann expanded this collection. To this day, these pieces remain part of the museum’s collection, which has been continuously expanded through acquisitions and donations.
The museum is the oldest municipal museum in the state capital. Since 1961, the museum has been housed in a glass-and-concrete building with a historic facade. Parts of the stairwell and the side wings inside the building are even preserved from the original museum building. 

Hannover Living - Museums

Museum video

Hannover Living - Museums Part II

Hannover Living – the sixth installment: Here’s the second video from Hannover’s museums.

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