Art Nouveau on the Upper Rhine

The major reform of the modern age is at the heart of the exhibition project at the Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe: Beginning 18 April 2009, the special exhibition entitled "Art Nouveau on the Upper Rhine" presents the many facets of art and its regional variations along the shared borders of Germany, France and Switzerland circa 1900.

This cultural-history exhibition features some 700 objects which illustrate several different kinds of artistic techniques: furniture, painting, graphics, metalwork, jewellery, textiles, fashion, ceramics, stained-glass windows, contemporary photos and documents. A life-sized model of an art nouveau flat with a salon, dining room, veranda, boudoir, study and bedroom not only shows the typical furniture style at the turn of the century; it also creates an impression of the spirit of the day and of how its inhabitants once lived.

The broad scope of the exhibition also covers topics such as women's emancipation, technical achievements, entertainment, consumerism, fashion and how people ate and drank. Academic documents as well as caricatures reflect the era's cultural historic phenomena. An extensive schedule of related activities will transport visitors back to the exciting period of the fin de siècle.