DOCUMENTATION | Exhibitions

26th Council of Europe exhibition "1648 - Krieg und Frieden in Europa / War and Peace in Europe"

The 26th Council of Europe exhibition "1648 - Krieg und Frieden in Europa / War and Peace in Europe" (October 25, 1998 - January 17, 1999) commemorated the 350th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia; a treaty which ended a war in which almost all European countries had been involved and which - for thirty years - had brought extreme poverty and inconceivable misery to all central European states, esp. the Heilige Römische Reich Deutscher Nation. The exhibition, which was opened on October 24, 1998 in the presence of the German President Roman Herzog and many European monarchs, presented the events of the Thirty Years' War and the results and achievements of the Treaty of Westphalia with all of their numerous facets by using documents and objects from that period as well as first-class works of art.

Following the course of the historical events, the exhibition was held at the two former scenes of the peace negotiations; namely Münster and Osnabrück:

In Münster the Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte depicted the Thirty Years' War and the ensuing peace treaty as historical phenomena of European dimensions. The most important topics of that time, the crisis of 1600, the events leading to the outbreak of the war, but also its terrible reality and, finally, the longing for peace as well as the achievements reached in the peace negotiations were impressively presented. In addition, special attention was also paid to the reaction of artists to the terrible events and the role of art in general during that time. A smaller exhibition was shown at the Rathaus (City Hall) in Münster, where, in 1648, the peace treaty between Spain and the Netherlands had been signed. This exhibition portrayed the role of the city of Münster as scene of the peace negotiations.

In Osnabrück the Kulturgeschichtliche Museum focused mainly on the Time-line of the historical events. In addition, the crisis of the Heilige Römische Reich Deutscher Nation shortly before the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War and its situation after the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia was shown. At the Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche in Osnabrück, the role of the different Christian denominations and their representatives was examined, while at the Akzisehaus people could find out all about the role that the city of Osnabrück played during that time.

On-line information about the Council of Europe exhibition can be found in quite a number of different forms. Unfortunately, some of the texts are only available in German.

	the official web site of the 26th Council of Europe exhibition "1648 - Krieg und Frieden in Europa / War and Peace in Europe" (link to the old german exhibition web site);
	the patrons of the Council of Europe exhibition;
	the room plan and short guide to the exhibition giving a brief survey of the main topics and objects presented in the exhibition; (link to the german web site)
	the exhibition catalogue (link to the german web site; sorry, catalogue out of print!);
	the essay volumes I and II - published to accompany the exhibition (also out of print!);
	the brochure Im Glanz des Friedens: Kunst und Könige in Westfalen containing numerous illustrations and giving information about the Council of Europe exhibition (link to the german web site; available from the Landesmuseum for 0,50 Euro);
	the multi-media CD-ROM "1648 - Krieg und Frieden in Europa / War and Peace in Europe", a European co-production with illustrations and texts about numerous aspects of the topic (the CD-ROM is available from the Landesmuseum for 23 Euro);
	as well as
	the proceedings of the historical congress "350 Jahre Westfälischer Friede - Entscheidungsprozesse, Weichenstellungen und Widerhall eines europäischen Ereignisses / 350 years Treaty of Westphalia - decision-making, setting the course and echoes of a European event", Münster, 27.10.-2.11.1996 (link to the german web site)
	the proceedings (table of contents) of an international colloquium, organized by the Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Münster and the Paris Louvre in 1998 (link to the german web site).