May 21st 2021, is the 550th anniversary of Albrecht Dürer’s birth. In honour of Nuremberg’s artistic genius, the Albrecht Dürer House, Albrecht-Dürer-Straße 39, has prepared a varied programme to mark the occasion. Under the current conditions, visiting the Dürer House is only permitted when the incidence value remains under 100 for several days in a row and if a timeslot is booked online through this page: https://tickets.nuernberg.de/. If the incidence value falls below 50, then a booking is no longer necessary. Corona prevention measures must be observed as required on site.
The Albrecht Dürer House’s gift for the occasion is a new presentation, “Original Dürer!” in the Graphic Cabinet, a permanent exhibition of the artist’s original prints. From Friday, May 21st, six of Dürer’s copperplate engravings and woodcuts will be on display here, which, for conservation reasons, will alternate in a four-monthly cycle. The first round of originals will be on the theme of “Architecture and Landscape in Albrecht Dürer’s Engravings”. The permanent presentation will pause when the cabinet is used for special exhibitions. Also newly integrated into the existing permanent collection in the two workshop rooms are etchings and drawings by art historian and art educator Prof. Hermann Leber. This “Homage to Albrecht Dürer” illustrates the significant impact his work has up to the art of the present day.
If the Dürer House is able to open from 21 to 24 May, admission will be free on Dürer’s birthday and on the following Whitsun (Pfingst) weekend. Outside this period, the house’s offers are included in the museum admission of 6 euros, reduced rate 1.50 euros.
Two online exhibitions on the culture portal Google Arts & Culture are also celebrating Dürer: a few days before the anniversary, there will be a presentation illustrating the creation and history of the so-called Dürer Family Book from 1828. In that year, the 300th anniversary of Dürer’s death, all German-speaking artists were invited to submit works in honour of the great artist. An exhibition of scenes from Albrecht Dürer’s life will soon go online. It deals with the now lost banners depicting scenes from Albrecht Dürer’s life that were hung on the windows of the town hall on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of his death in 1828.
On Friday, 21 May 2021, subject to the current coronavirus restrictions, the “Experience: Stamps” team of Deutsche Post will be present at the museum from 10am to 5pm with their special postmark in honour of Dürer. It will be printed on stamps or posted items exclusively on this day in the Dürer House. The Verein der Dürer- und Luther- Philatelisten e.V. (Association of Dürer and Luther Philatelists) is also issuing its own special postmark for Dürer’s birthday. It will be available at the Deutsche Post stand.
The approximately two-hour guided city tour “HIPPIE – SEXY: DÜRER 71. A commemorative year in Nuremberg and its colourful blossoms” by transiturs Stadttouren, on the other hand, reviews the last big Dürer anniversary in 1971, which attracted more than 1.2 million people to Nuremberg. The planned dates, information on registration and costs are available at: https://museen.nuernberg.de/duererhaus/kalender- details/fuehrung-duerer-jahr-2044/
The celebrations will continue after Dürer’s birthday: from 22 October 2021 to 18 April 2022, Albrecht Dürer House will be showing the special exhibition “Jo Niklaus on his 80th birthday. Reflections on Dürer”. The internationally renowned Nuremberg artist Jo Niklaus is close to the style of Magic Realism and repeatedly deals with motifs by Albrecht Dürer.
On 19 and 20 November 2021, the Dürer Lectures are expected to deal with the question “Was Dürer in Vienna? The occasion is a spectacularly controversial art find in Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral – the recently discovered remains of a wall painting are so strongly reminiscent of Dürer’s handwriting that an attribution is being seriously considered, although a stay by the master in Vienna is not known. Participation in the Dürer lectures is free of charge.
A constantly updated overview of the events surrounding Dürer’s birthday is available online at: https://museen.nuernberg.de/duererhaus/aktuelles/550-geburtstag- albrecht-duerer
