Exhibition 'Bricks and Fragments of Architectural Decor' at the Friedland Gates Museum

About exhibition

To date, exhibitions with open collections are far from common in museums across the country. But the museum meets visitors halfway and reveals what is usually hidden from view. The main exhibit in our museum is, of course, the gate itself, which was built of brick. Therefore, since the museum's founding, particular attention has been paid to this material — especially since fired red ceramic brick is an unofficial symbol of our region. The open collections include more than a hundred distinctive bricks. These are not only bricks of the familiar rectangular shape but also bricks bearing various stamps, animal paw prints, and specially shaped bricks of non-standard forms: with rounded corners, chamfered edges, and complex projections and recesses. The museum has assembled a collection of bricks with makers' marks rendered as letters and symbols. The same factory could, over its long history, produce bricks with different marks. In addition to the brick collection, samples of roof tiles and decorative elements from the gate are on display. In one of the display cases you can see fragments of a sculpture of Siegfried von Feuchtwangen, the 15th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, which today adorns the facade of the inner courtyard of the Friedland Gates. Most of the collection was donated by residents of the region. We are confident that the new exhibition will broaden visitors' access to the museum's collections.