"Unknown Russia" at the Frankfurt Museum of icons

[SergeiSK]

The Frankfurt Museum of icons, one of the most wonderful fruits of the cold war and reconstruction, is celebrating its twentieth anniversary exhibition "Unknown Russia", dedicated to the 19 th century Old Believer icons.
 On the banks of the Main, opposite the old city center in an old building, where once quartered the Teutonic Knights, is a "small pearl necklace Frankfurt Museum" (so called founded 20 years ago, the Museum of icons of his staff).
In 1990, the opening of the Museum of icons, a collection that has been collecting in the postwar decades, has materialized "mash" of perestroika Russia - like Germany in general and personally Frankfurt physician Jorgen Schmidt-Vogt (Jörgen Schmidt-Voigt). On his mentor tells permanent director of the museum, an art critic Richard Zaharuk (Richard Zacharuk).
"The guys drink too much vodka"
Dr. Schmidt-Vogt was one of those doctors, about whom it was known that they were invited by the Communist Party leadership - says the director Zaharuk (his Ukrainian ancestors, he must name and an excellent Russian language). - Doctors from Western Europe arrived in Moscow to treat Brezhnev and others. cardiologist Schmidt-Vogt was one of them. He became a "her" in the Kremlin, and knew Andropov, Brezhnev, and so on. He said: "They drink vodka, and at some point they begin heart problems.
Back in the fifties, Schmidt-Vogt, then a young physician, published a handbook for cardiologists, which has become one of the fundamental in its field and has been translated into several languages, including the Russian. Surgery Congress for the first time brought him in 1961 in Moscow, at the same time appeared the first high-ranking patients, among whom was, for example, Patriarch Alexy first. He invited guests to Sergiev Posad, then still had no right to call the monastery.
For Protestants Schmidt-Vogt in Orthodoxy everything was unfamiliar, but at the same time - giving rise. He was particularly struck by the icon of "Healing cleric: Virgin sprinkles milk in the face of a patient young man, healed him. The icon was presented to the guest and the first in his collection.
The rumor that the fee "German luminary" should pay the icons quickly spread in certain circles, especially because the money for his work Dr. Schmidt-Vogt did not take: "He said:" What kind of account I should write them? A thousand dollars? For tens of thousands? "And do not write - recalls Richard Zaharuk. - On the other hand, it was known that he collects the icons, and Schmidt-Vogt received for his work on the icon of the party and state leadership as gifts. Pouch, they were transported here in Germany.
From Brezhnev to Glazunov
Among the donors included, by the way, not just party bosses. At the doctor's patients were among the Orthodox bishops and even the dissidents, turned to him and cultural figures. For example, 30 icons collection - among them some very rare - given the German cardiologist patriotic artist Ilya Glazunov.
Most of icons brought Schmidt-Vogt of Russia - is the icon later, the second half of the 19 th century: at the time of their departure they were "younger" than a hundred years and did not fall under the then existing prohibition. A fine specimen was caught in a Frankfurt museum, whose collection has grown since its inception approximately one-third in 1200 and is now the icons from other sources. In the museum sometimes bring things from private collections, the ways that they were absolutely inscrutable. For instance, the beautiful icon of the 17 th century in the rich icon case was acquired in the thirties in the Soviet Union, his family fled the Nazis of Jewish communists from Frankfurt. After the war the family returned to East Germany. But their son, later emigrated to the West - along with the icon, which was transferred to the Frankfurt Museum.
Present, an anniversary exhibition of the museum is made up of "guest" is dedicated to Old Believer icons and icon. More precisely, the four icons schools, artisanal, masters who worked in the villages and branch Guslitsa in Nevyansk, as well as in the studio Frolov in Paradise. By the way, iconographers-Believers worked not only on the Old Believers' customers, but also to "Nikonian market", so to distinguish from other Old Believers icon can only specialist: on branding, particularly addition "troeperstiyu, the arrangement of shapes and the choice of subject, another iconic status.
This specialist is the initiator and curator of the exhibition, by profession - a simple German engineer Kurt Eberhard (Kurt Eberhard). His collection staroobryacheskoy icons - the same age as assembly Schmidt-Vogt. Even in Soviet times, Eberhard, receiving "special permits" the authorities, toured the former center of Old Believer icons. Knowledge Kurt Eberhard in this very specific area so vast, that it has often seek expertise not only German and Russian museums.
The exhibition is built around fifty icons of the four private German collections. Published magnificent catalog in three languages, including Russian. Blessing of the Moscow church hierarchs protects the Frankfurt Museum of criticism in "inappropriate" exposure of the sacral art.

Anastasia Rakhmanov
(Deutsche Welle 11.06.2010)