Museum Burg Mylau

The ethnological collection of the Mylau Castle Museum originated from the collections of both the Mylau Natural History Society and the Vogtland Society for General and Special Natural History in Reichenbach im Vogtland. Within a few years of their foundations (1853/1876), members and sponsors of both associations had donated objects from „overseas“ – namely from German colonies in Africa and Oceania, but also from Japan, China and South America – to the respective collections. Early connections between the Museum für Völkerkunde and the association of Reichenbach im Vogtland manifested in the exchange of objects. The first batches of objects were given/returned to Dresden with the proliferation of the Reichenbach Museum during the period of National Socialism. The ethnographic objects no longer played a role in the new Reichenbach District Museum at the Mylau Castle, which was established in 1956. The collection was handed over to the Museum für Völkerkunde in Dresden as part of the museum proliferation of the GDR in the 1970s and 1980s. Only some objects remained on Mylau Castle, likely unintentionally. Since 2017, initial preliminary work has been carried out on researching the ethnological collection, which reached an important stage in 2022/23 with a project funded by the German Lost Art Foundation on objects from German colonies in Africa. The aim of the project was to research over 100 object biographies, the associated collectors, the circumstances of acquisition and the history of the collection in the GDR.