Master stonemason and sculptor Gabriel Heimann adopts a historic family tomb in his hometown of Pirna and discovers exciting clues that lead to the former owner: a master sculptor who was important in regional history around the turn of the century. During the renovation, he integrates a tribute to the common guild. Like many cemetery administrations across Germany, the cemetery in Pirna is trying to preserve historical […]

Master stonemason and sculptor Gabriel Heimann adopts a historic family tomb in his hometown of Pirna and discovers exciting clues that lead to the former owner: a master sculptor who was important in regional history around the turn of the century. During the restoration, he integrates a tribute to the common guild.

Like many cemetery administrations throughout Germany, the cemetery in Pirna also tries to preserve historically significant gravesites through sponsorships. The park-like cemetery of the Evangelical Lutheran parish of Pirna was opened in 1870 and is home to several such graves.

Gabriel Heimann, a stonemason and master sculptor with his own company, chose one of them at the beginning of 2020: a family grave, almost completely overgrown and not particularly easy to recognize because the boxwood planted on it obscured it. “But I saw that the substance was good, because Wehlen sandstone is resistant. I also recognized a craftsman’s wreath and therefore thought the tombstone was appropriate.”

Heimann’s father is also a craftsman, he worked as a carpenter. Once the overgrowth on the grave had been tamed, Heimann discovered elements that could only mean one thing: “Knotters and sculpting irons…” It turned out that he had taken over the sponsorship of the family grave of Heinrich Schneider – a master sculptor who worked in Pirna and the Dresden region at the turn of the century.

Heimann was now particularly interested in the history of the grave and the “previous owner”. In addition to a copy of the cemetery register, which provided interesting information about the family’s lifetime, the archive also contained Schneider’s death certificate, a technical construction plan for his sculpture workshop and his letterhead.

In it, he included a picture of the Pirna war memorial, one of his major projects, for the execution of which he received 4,199 marks from the town in 1896 “to fully settle his bill”. In 1908, Schneider was also commissioned by the Pirna Beautification Association to recreate the Erlpeter Fountain based on old records. This very fountain was renovated around 100 years later… – by none other than Gabriel Heimann.

Read more in the current STEIN 12/20.

The classic “Collections in Safety” is still a standard work for practical museum operations. Although the third, expanded edition was published in 2002, it contains important additions for conservators that are still valid. When a book appears in its third edition, it must be pretty good or pretty important. In the case of “Sammlungsgut in Sicherheit”, both are true. Because […]

The classic “Collections in Safety“ is still a standard work for practical museum operations. Although the third, expanded edition was published in 2002, it contains important additions for conservators that are still valid.

When a book appears in its third edition, it must be pretty good or pretty important. In the case of “Sammlungsgut in Sicherheit”, both are true. This is because the book on the topics of lighting and light protection, air conditioning, prevention of harmful substances, pest control, security technology, fire protection and hazard management is a fundamental work for museum work. It contains knowledge and numerous tips for the organization of tasks in a museum.

The volume has been expanded to include chapters on the prevention of harmful substances and pest control. This expansion was particularly requested by conservators and restorers. The section on hazard management was created at the suggestion of security experts.

However, some chapters begin with overly basic information. At the beginning of her article “Fire protection in museums”, Barbara Fischer explains what a fire is: “A fire is a chemical process in which a flammable substance combines with oxygen (oxidation) and which takes place exothermically – i.e. with the release of heat – at a high reaction rate.”

This sounds a bit like elementary school science lessons and will underchallenge, if not annoy, any reader. And this is completely unnecessary, because Fischer’s article is good and important, as it not only describes the causes of fires and how to combat them, but also goes into detail about protection and the problems it can cause. These include, for example, emergency exits, which can save the lives of museum visitors in the event of a fire, but which can also be used by thieves. Here, Fischer brings together all the usual options for opening escape routes in an emergency, but making them more difficult for thieves to pass through.

The other articles are similarly structured: They list which technical options exist and thus provide decision-making aids and the basis for weighing up which systems a particular museum might need. All of this is illustrated with numerous tables, formulas and graphics, such as Wibke Unger’s very convincing article on pests in museums. Various insects are clearly illustrated and there are precise instructions on how to destroy them.

All the authors are well aware of one shortcoming of their contributions, as editor Gunter S. Hilbert writes in the foreword: “In the course of working on their manuscripts, the co-authors found themselves in the situation of the hare from the fable of the race with the hedgehog. Although always striving for topicality, by the end of the last chapter some novelty, some innovation, had already caught up with them.” One of the authors, Hans-Jürgen Harras, Head of the Security Department at the Berlin State Museums of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, explains that, in line with Hilbert’s guiding principles, the chapters were preceded by the basics and history of the respective topic. The results were described as a guideline for action and the way in which the knowledge was gained was also made clear.