The Museum of Lacquer Art shows you a collection of about 1000 objects of lacquer art from East Asia, Europe and the Islamic world from more than two millennia. This makes it the only museum of its kind in the world. It is located in a villa at the Promenade and belongs to the company BASF Coatings, which also operates it.

The oldest objects in the museum come from China, Korea and Japan, where lacquer art decorations already existed before the birth of Christ. Various decoration techniques are on display, such as the Japanese lacquer art Urushi, in which gold and silver powders were drizzled into the still-wet lacquer. In addition to the exhibition of the collection, the museum regularly shows special exhibitions on individual epochs of lacquer art such as those of China, Korea, Japan or from the Orient. You can request guided tours of all exhibitions by mail or phone, and admission is free. A multimedia guide with extensive information on the exhibits can be borrowed free of charge at the reception desk for a deposit.

For school classes there are guided tours with practical and interactive parts. For example, they can look at lacquer art from Asia and learn how it was used in everyday life. This offer is also free of charge, but registration is required.

In addition to the exhibitions, other events such as concerts are regularly presented in the museum.

The history of the museum began with the collectors Erich Zschocke (1901-1978) and Kurt Herberts (1901-1989). Zschocke worked in a lacquer company in the 1930s and took care of the lacquer art owned by the corporation. He continued to expand the collection and founded a company-owned coatings museum that featured exhibits from Europe and Asia as well as South America and the Middle East. The chemical company BASF took over the company in 1968, and with it the museum. Kurt Herberts' collection began in the 1930s and consisted of historic lacquer art. However, most of the objects did not survive World War II, so Herberts began rebuilding his collection in 1949. This was taken over by BASF in 1982. The company wanted to make both collections accessible to the public and was able to acquire the villa at the Promenade for this purpose. The Museum of Lacquer Art was then opened in 1993.

For more information about the Museum für Lackkunst, its exhibition and offers, please visit the museum's website (website available in English).

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Further information:

• Wikipedia article BASF Coatings (article only available in German)