The collection is growing

You were recently in Berlin looking at potential collectibles. What exactly were you looking at?

Firstly, my path led me to the Roads and Green Spaces Department of the Berlin-Mitte district office, because they store a collection of historical urns. The Mitte Museum, which also belongs to this district office, offered them to us because they lack the space for adequate storage, let alone display. Furthermore, this collection is very special. A large part of the collection of 247 urns – decorative urns and empty ash capsules – was on display at the Wedding crematorium from 1952 until the 2000s.

That sounds special.

Yes, it must have been a great concern of the initiator of this collection to provide an overview of the history of the urn and the wide range of urns – both national and international. Moreover, the collection includes extremely rare, sometimes even "curious" specimens, such as a house urn from the late Bronze Age or a green suitcase urn from Mexico. Currently, efforts are underway to find out more about the initiator and any co-collectors. Whether and when the collection can actually be transferred to us is still uncertain, especially since this also requires administrative review.

But you also visited a private collection in Berlin. What was it about?

I visited the Pearl Museum in Berlin-Lichterfelde with colleagues. It's a private collection belonging to Evelyn and Jürgen Ulzen. The couple began collecting everything related to glass beads more than 40 years ago. This includes a large number of beaded wreaths, which became fashionable as grave decorations around 1860, but were considered "kitsch" at the beginning of the 20th century and increasingly prohibited by cemetery regulations. Fortunately, we have a few pieces of this grave decoration in our collection – which I find to be absolutely lovely farewell gifts – and there's a good chance that we'll one day be able to acquire more examples from the Pearl Museum, as well as other beaded memorial and commemorative objects. That would be wonderful because their condition is excellent, thanks to Evelyn Ulzen. Over the course of her collecting, she has learned the manufacturing techniques and can – naturally using suitable, authentic beads – professionally restore everything.

How does the Museum of Sepulchral Culture generally acquire new collection pieces?

By offering objects for purchase, as donations, or as long-term loans. However, this doesn't mean we accept every offer. Inclusion in the collection depends on aspects such as art-historical and cultural significance, relevance to the specific focus of our institution, and, of course, affordability. Sometimes, unfortunately, we simply have to decline due to lack of space. This is the case, for example, with historical hearses and funeral vehicles.

Are there also targeted purchases based on the motto "We're still missing this"?

I always browse auction announcements and catalogs, and I usually linger on pieces that are currently missing from our collection or are severely underrepresented. Of course, bidding also depends on our financial resources, and as a rule, I only bid on items that are expected to fetch a relatively low hammer price. This also means that a bit of luck is always needed to win the auction. That's why I'm all the more delighted when I do manage to acquire, for example, 19th-century votive offerings, which were completely absent from our collection until recently, or a graphic print from around 1850, which, due to its connection to the theme of suicide, represents an almost epochal rarity.

What is still missing, for example with regard to the redesign of the museum's permanent exhibition?

This is an important question, but one that is currently difficult to answer. The work on the content-related realignment of the permanent exhibition will only reveal which gaps need to be filled. This work has only just begun and is therefore a process that will gradually show us which objects we still need to look for. The founding and opening of the Museum of Sepulchral Culture in 1992 was based on the aim of being a primarily cultural-historical museum within the Christian-Western context, in which art, crafts, and also craftsmanship (the latter in the context of cemetery history and practice) were to receive special consideration. The focus of the collection was and remains accordingly. With the redesign of the permanent exhibition, we would like to broaden the scope of the topic of death, meaning that, for example, a legal, an interreligious, or even a scientific perspective on the subject will be included. It will thus become clear what can and should be implemented through exhibits.

Following the special exhibition "Comfort: Tracing a Human Need," photographs were acquired thanks to the Friends of the Museum. What significance do such acquisitions have for the museum?

It is simply wonderful when people support us in expanding our collection. In doing so, they indirectly, but nonetheless significantly, contribute to the purpose of the Museum of Sepulchral Culture: to initiate and deepen the exploration of the often taboo subject of death in a variety of ways, and to promote a conscious understanding of the value of life. Of course, this cannot happen in isolation from the processes of change to which culture, and consequently sepulchral culture, is constantly subject. This means that we are always dependent on exhibits and forms of presentation that convey this and help stimulate discourse with visitors. Acquiring these exhibits, however, is often a major financial challenge for us. Therefore, we are happy and grateful to have a circle of friends at our side who are highly committed to the museum's development and who repeatedly help to mitigate these challenges. With their support, it was possible this year to acquire several award-winning photographs that fit well with the theme of consolation and have thus been included in this special exhibition. They are therefore another new addition to our collection.