Ecclesiastical art and cultural history in the Diocesan Museum

The Diocesan Museum on Freising Cathedral Hill aims to inspire its visitors with exhibitions on the history of art and culture at the intersection of faith, art and society.

The Diocesan Museum's collection comprises over 40,000 objects from all areas of ecclesiastical art and culture. It is one of the largest museums of religious history in the world. The main focus is on late medieval ecclesiastical art from Old Bavaria, Swabia and the Alpine region, as well as art-historically significant works from the South German Baroque and Rococo periods, but also artefacts from the fields of liturgy, popular piety, pilgrimage and monastic culture. Another area of the collection is formed by 2,700 objects of early Christian and Byzantine art and culture, which can be used to illustrate the origins of Christian art and liturgy in a separate exhibition area.

The display collection presents Christian art from two millennia on almost 2500 square metres of exhibition space: from early Christian works to contemporary positions of the 21st century. In addition to 15th century Bavarian late Gothic artists such as Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack and Gabriel Angler, the great Lucas Cranach and many Baroque and Rococo masters, such as Ignaz Günther, Johann Baptist Straub and the Asam brothers, are also represented.

Contemporary art

Contemporary artists also have their permanent place in the new Diocesan Museum and ensure openness on all sides - such as the US installation artist James Turrell, who has created a light room in the former house chapel: "A CHAPEL FOR LUKE and his scribe Lucius the Cyrene" is a cross-room light installation in the form of a full field. Here, all architectural features - light, colour and space - merge into one, creating the phenomenon of a complete loss of depth perception. Upon entering the work, the boundaries of space and time are thus seemingly dissolved, creating proverbial delimiting experiences. The permanent installation by James Turrell is daily open from 10 to 11.30 am and 2.30 to 4 pm. Due to the high number of visitors, please allow for longer waiting times if necessary.

The Belgian sculptor Berlinde de Bruyckere took a particular interest in the museum's stock of late Gothic sculptures and, under this impression, created the larger-than-life bronze sculpture ARCANGELO for the atrium of the DIMU. The photographer Michael Wesely, known for his long exposures, shows the transformation of the museum in the last nine years in his two works, in which he let the museum team merge into one face shortly after the closure and shortly before the reopening.

During her visit to the Domberg in June 2019, the American artist Kiki Smith decided to design a small sacred space in the museum's outdoor area. The chapel she designed in collaboration with Brückner & Brückner is entitled "Mary's Mantle". It was built on the west terrace of the museum from April 2023 and designed by the artist (scroll down for more information and pictures).