The Collectors

Two Lives for One Collection

Hermine Viktoria von Parish (Munich 1881-1966 Haar)

Hermine senior was formative for the collection in every sense. She reconstructed the collection of costume images that once belonged to her Grandfather, Rudolf Marggraff (Züllichau / Silesia 1805-1880 Freiburg i.Br.), which had been almost entirely lost. The financial position provided by her marriage to Edmund von Parish (Hamburg 1881-1916 Munich) in 1906 allowed her to travel through Europe and acquire a myriad of books, graphics, and fashion magazines. This would constitute the core of her fashion picture collection, the so-called “documentation”. The noteworthy encyclopedic approach of her passion for collecting has made this archive significant in its breadth and diversity to this day. As the daughter of the painter Emanuel Spitzer (Pápa, Austria-Hungary 1844-1919 Waging am See), she possessed an artistic talent that was expressed in her drawings and collages. Beginning in the 1920s, she ran a manufactory for artist dolls, and in 1946, she founded the "Von Parish School for Liberal and Applied Arts", which operated within the villa. Despite the difficulties between the First World War and the early post-war era, Hermine Sr. continued to provide for the personal maintenance of the family and was able to preserve the whole collection as well as the villa on Kemnatenstraße.

Hermine ‘Harriet’ von Parish (Rome 1907-1998 Munich)

Hermine Jr. inherited a passion for collecting. Instead of attending school, her mother raised her to work in the documentation from the age of thirteen. She literally grew into the collection – some objects still bear her childhood drawings. Beginning in the mid-1930s, she began actively collecting and contributing to the family archive herself. Her original desire to become a singer remained unfulfilled, even after a few semesters at Munich’s "University of Music".

As director of the "Von Parish School for Liberal and Applied Arts", she influenced generations of students from the years 1954 to 1974. With the transfer of the private collection to the Münchner Stadtmuseum in 1970, she succeeded in ensuring its future existence and making it accessible to the public. She continued to expand the collection on a large scale and enriched it with particularly valuable pieces.

By the end of her life, she had established an institution for costume history research that is significant on an international scale. In acknowledgement of her service to her hometown of Munich, Hermine von Parish was distinguished with the “Munich Shines” gold medal in 1980. On November 7, 2007, the Von Parish Costume Library received the “Prize for the Preservation of European Cultural Heritage” from the European Cultural Foundation. A special tribute was paid to the benefactress in 2018 with the naming of “Hermine-von-Parish-Street” in a new residential area in Pasing. 

Visitor Information

The Von Parish Costume Library is a closed stack library.

Loans and interlibrary loans are not possible, with the exception of loan requests for exhibition purposes.

The library is available to the public in addition to the option of a fee-based research service.

To visit the library pre-registration and an appointment is required.

Contact

Von Parish Kostümbibliothek
Kemnatenstraße 50
80639 München, Nymphenburg

Dr. Esther Sophia Sünderhauf, Head

Phone +49-(0)89-177717
E-Mail: kostuembibliothek.
stadtmuseum@muenchen.de

How to Get Here

From the city center using public transport: S-Bahn station Laim, then take exit Wotanstraße with bus 51 or 151 to stop Kemnatenstraße.


Plan Your Visit

Getting here

S/U-Bahn station: Marienplatz
U-Bahn station: Sendlinger Tor
Bus 52/62 stop: St.-Jakobs-Platz

Contact

St.-Jakobs-Platz 1
80331 München
Phone +49-(0)89-233-22370
Fax +49-(0)89-233-25033
E-Mail stadtmuseum(at)muenchen.de
E-Mail filmmuseum(at)muenchen.de

Ticket reservation Phone +49-(0)89-233-24150