4 . G L A S
M U S E U M I N
K U N S T P A L A S
T
EHRENHOF 4-5
The beginnings of the Glasmuseum Hentrich lie in
the design reference collection kept at the one - time
Kunstgewerbemuseum – that had stood in
Düsseldorf from 1883 until 1927 . With the museum ’ s
closure , the glasses in that collection entered the
municipality ’ s new Kunstmuseum . In the 1930s and
1940s , the purchase of the Lückger and Jantzen
collections lent glass , compared to the other items
of arts and crafts in the museum , a profile of its
own . From 1961 on , Düsseldorf architect Prof . Dr
Helmut Hentrich ( 1905 – 2001 ) made yearly gifts to
the Museum from his outstanding collection of
Middle - Eastern and Art Nouveau glass . It was in his
honour in 1990 that the Kunstmuseum renamed its
Glassammlung or simply , Glass Collection ,
henceforth to be the Glasmuseum Hentrich . In
accordance with the wish expressed in Hentrich ’ s
will , the Glasmuseum exhibition area was given a
handsome extension executed by the Swiss
architects ’ office of Steiner Sarnen . This was opened
to the public in 2006 .
3500 years of glass - making , on permanent
exhibition in the shape of over 3000 fine works
displayed over 1200 square metres of exhibition
space – the statistics alone testify to the calibre of
the Glasmuseum Hentrich . Alongside the great
museums at Corning , London and Prague , the
Hentrich Glass Museum is one of the world ’ s leading
collections of glass
Exquisite objects from ancient Egyptian ear
jewellery to the works of contemporary art glass -
makers – the likes of Emile Gallé , Louis C . Tiffany ,
René Lalique , Stanislav Libenský and Dale Chihuly ,
in short , the very best of almost every era and
region of glass - making is represented at the
Glasmuseum . A specialist collection of a kind met
only in a few other locations in the world , it is in
the manifold collections at Museum Kunstpalast .