View from first to second floor inside Samurai Museum Berlin

The Samurai Museum Berlin is a private museum of artifacts and art objects of the Japanese samurai warrior class, from the private collection of the builder Peter Janssen.[1][2] It opened in 2022 and is located in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany.[3]

Samurai Suit of Armor, Samurai Museum Berlin

The museum displays about 1000 exhibits on 1500 square meters[4] of exhibition space. The entire collection of the museum includes nearly 4000 objects.[1] Among them are about 40 complete suits of armor, 200 helmets, 150 masks, 160 swords, and numerous other evidences of samurai culture dating back nearly a millennium.[5]

The oldest pieces in the collection date back to the Kofun period (300-538 AD). The majority of the objects date from the late Middle Ages and the early modern period (15th-18th centuries). Top pieces of the collection represent three samurai armors of the Kato clan from the Edo period (1603-1868). Another focus is on blades of famous master smiths of the Kamakura and Namboku-chō periods, which roughly corresponds to the European High Middle Ages (11th-14th centuries).[6]

In addition to armor, helmets, masks, weapons, swords, and sword jewelry, the permanent exhibition also offers insights into wide-ranging areas of samurai culture, society, religion, and craftsmanship. These also include sculpture and painting, a lifelike Nō theater and Nō masks, and a freestanding teahouse with utensils used in the Japanese tea ceremony.[3]

Through interactive installations and touchscreens attached to the exhibits, the exhibits are described in detail in either German or English. In parallel, a quiz available on the touch screens allows visitors to test or expand their own knowledge of samurai culture. The technology behind the interactive installations was designed by Ars Electronica.[7]

In addition to the permanent exhibition, temporary exhibitions are also held.

Literature

  • Claudia Fährenkemper: Samurai, 2019
  • Barbara Harding: The "Arts of Asia" Conversation with Peter Janssen of the Samurai Art Museum. In: Arts of Asia, July/August 2019: pp. 22-32.
  • Eckhard Kremers: The Samurai Art Museum in Berlin. Interview with collector Peter Janssen. (Photographs by Manfred-Michael Sackmann) In: Ostasiatische Zeitschrift. New Series No. 35, Spring 2018.
  • Martyna Lesniewska: Samurai Art Museum. The Janssen Collection. In: Museums Journal 2/2018: p. 33 ff.

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, Kate (2022-05-23). "What I Buy and Why: Peter Janssen on How a Flea-Market Find Inspired Him to Build a Leading Private Collection of Samurai Objects". Artnet News. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  2. ↑ Bodenstein, Gisa (2017-10-09). "Der Weg der Samurai führt jetzt bis Zehlendorf". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  3. 1 2 "Europe's first samurai museum opens in Berlin – DW – 05/08/2022". dw.com. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  4. ↑ "Samurai Museum to Open in Berlin in May". nippon.com. 2022-01-20. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  5. ↑ "Samurai-Museum in Berlin: Im Bann der Krieger". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  6. ↑ Martyna Lesniewska: Samurai Art Museum. Die Sammlung Janssen. In: Museums Journal 2/2018: S. 33 ff.
  7. ↑ Platthaus, Andreas. "Samurai-Museum in Berlin: Schlachtenlärm und Shamisen". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 2022-11-09.

52°31′37″N 13°23′43″E / 52.5269°N 13.3953°E / 52.5269; 13.3953

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