National Museum of History and Art
Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart
MISSIONS
In addition to several temporary exhibitions organised each year, the National Museum of History and Art houses the national archaeological, historical and artistic collections.
Its main mission is the conservation, restoration, scientific study and public presentation of the archaeological, historical and artistic heritage of the Grand Duchy. In addition to its public-oriented activities, it is also a research institute in the various fields within its remit. Through its National Centre for Archaeological Research, the National Museum of History and Art organises and supervises the archaeological excavations carried out each year in our country.
ARCHITECTURE
In 1922, the State bought the Collart-de Scherff house in the Marché-aux-Poissons to build a museum. Delayed by financial constraints, the renovation work designed by Paul Wigreux was not completed until 1939, but the outbreak of the Second World War postponed the opening of the museum. The considerable expansion of the building envisaged by the Nazi occupiers was prevented by the course of the war and in 1943 the collections had to be moved to a safe place. After the end of the war, most of the collections were returned to the museum unharmed and it opened its doors to the public in 1946.
Due to lack of space, the Industrial and Popular Arts section could not be installed in the main building. For this reason, the state acquired and converted several old houses in Wiltheim Street, opposite the museum. Their architecture bears witness to the development of urban housing from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. From 1972 onwards, the section presents the ways of living and the applied arts until the eve of the First World War, popular beliefs, agricultural work and old trades as well as the beginnings of industrialisation in Luxembourg. The exhibition on housing also illustrates the exceptionally well-preserved interior architecture of these houses. The cultural year 1995 revealed that the main museum building had become too small for the ever-growing collections. The restructuring project was carried out by the Old Town Renovation Fund and entrusted to the architectural firm Christian Bauer. The new central building, which was opened in 2002, doubled the museum's exhibition space. From 2012 to 2014, the Old Town Renovation Fund and the Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart carried out a comprehensive renovation of the old houses in Wiltheim Street. The architects took great care to minimise the impact of the work on the old building. The new two-storey, fully glazed walkway, which now connects the central building to the Wiltheim Wing, significantly facilitates the inflow of visitors.
ARCHITECTS
The National Museum of History and Art, initially designed by Paul Wigreux in the 1930s, offered a subtle combination of history and modernity when it opened in 1946. In its current configuration, designed by the Luxembourg architectural firm Christian Bauer et associés, it offers a chronological tour since 2002, inviting visitors to climb the floors of the building as if they were walking through the "corridors of time". Following the renovation of the houses in the rue Wiltheim, undertaken in conjunction with the Fonds de Renovation de la Vielle Ville, and following a more functional connection with the central building, the Nationalmusée um Fëschmaart’s museum route was redesigned in favor of a thematic approach, offering five targeted routes since March 2015.