Furniture / Interior Design

This collection forms part of the museum's internationally renowned interior and furniture design collections. It comprises some 3,000 items of furniture, many of which can be installed as matching suites. The collection is unusual in that it may present the exhibits in context. The items can be combined with exhibits from the museum's crafts and ethnology collections to create over 100 so-called "period rooms": interiors which chronicle everyday home life, social history and changing styles from 1800 to the present.   

The work of the Art Nouveau movement in Munich represents one highlight of the collection. It includes early designs by August Endell (1871-1925), Hermann Obrist (1862-1927), Bruno Paul (1874-1968) and Richard Riemerschmid (1868-1957). These pieces were produced at the Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk ("United Workshops for Art in Handicrafts") which had been established in 1897. Many received grand prix at the World Exhibition of 1900 in Paris. The majority of these furnishings are unique and of great historical significance.