Leopold-Mozart-Haus
In Leopold Mozart's birthplace on Frauentorstraße, visitors of all ages can actively get to know Mozart's father and his world. The permanent exhibition invites you to experience it directly and sensually: in eleven themed rooms you will find, among other things, a historical stone grand piano, a walk-in coach, a baroque room theater and a room that makes music tangible.
The new museum, whose ground floor now offers barrier-free offers, is characterized by a sensual and interactive community experience. The rooms invite you to listen, feel, participate and experience together - be it through the walk-in replica of Mozart's coach, a room on the subject of learning music and composing or through the newly built room theater in the Baroque style, which also serves as a concert and event room. In a listening lounge you can delve deep into the world of Leopold Mozart's music and the creative instruments used in it. There are replicas of Leopold's varied clothing as well as a 'sensory room' that allows the music to become an immediate, physical experience.
Current special exhibition in the Leopold Mozart House:
The Augsburg Table-Confect of Valentin Rathgeber (1682-1750)
"A pleasure to the ears and a delight to the mind"
until March 2023
HISTORY
Today's Leopold-Mozart-House was the home and workplace of the bookbinder Johann Georg Mozart. His son Leopold was also born here. A commemorative plaque was first attached to the house in 1858, pointing out the connection between the Mozart family and the city of Augsburg. On the initiative of the Augsburg politician Ludwig Wegele, a memorial room was set up here in 1937, which later became part of an apartment. In 1951, a new memorial was set up, which was then repeatedly redesigned and expanded.
From 1996 to 2018, the Mozarthaus was also the headquarters of the German Mozart Society. After conversion and renovation measures by the Mozarthaus association in 2005, a newly designed permanent exhibition on the life and work of Leopold Mozart and his family was on display in the building from January 2006 to 2018. A completely newly designed permanent exhibition has been open since March 2020. The museum has been operated by Regio Augsburg Tourismus GmbH for the Augsburg art collections and museums since 2006.
EXHIBITION
It is a special challenge to design an exhibition about such a diverse figure. At the same time, the space available in the old craftsmen's house on Frauentorstrasse is limited. An additional difficulty is the lack of original objects from Leopold's possession or immediate surroundings. The exhibition makes a virtue of this necessity: Leopold Mozart's countless and extremely vivid letters are the starting point for his story, which is conveyed here in a contemporary and experience-oriented manner in the eleven themed rooms on the life is awakened. Leopold Mozart plays a much more central role than before.
Because the narrow construction of the house does not allow access for wheelchair users everywhere, the ground floor offers a separate room for people with restricted mobility. Here, as well as in the lovingly designed prologue film in the entrance area, the contents of the museum can be experienced free of charge. The concept is rounded off by a special pedagogical program from the Augsburg music education center MEHR MUSIK!, which is aimed without reservation at all schoolchildren.
LEOPOLD MOZART
Leopold Mozart grew up in the Augsburg cathedral district, his father was a master bookbinder. Rather unusual for a craftsman's son, Leopold went to the Jesuit College of St. Salvator, where he received a comprehensive humanistic, scientific, linguistic and musical education. The foundations for his entire life were laid here. Leopold moved to Salzburg to study, where he first became a valet and later a court musician in the service of the prince-archbishop. In addition to music, Leopold was interested in all other aspects of life: philosophy, art, inventions, clothing, food, natural phenomena, languages, people and different cultures. This becomes clear in his countless letters, which convey a unique picture of his time.
His attempt at a thorough violin tutor is not only an ingenious textbook, but also offers a complete musical compendium of the time. The violin tutor that Leopold had printed in Augsburg is also an expression of his great music-pedagogical skills, which he not only allowed his own children to benefit from. One has to wonder what would have become of Wolfgang if he had had a different father without his unique skills and interests? A good musician for sure, but this child prodigy? Certainly not. It's always worth getting to know the whole of Leopold Mozart and not just Wolfgang Amadeus' father. Leopold is an independent personality who will remain inseparably linked to his son, but who has much more to offer.
AUGSBURG, THE NATIVE CITY OF THE FAMILY MOZART
The Mozarts are a Swabian family whose most famous member would become the composer Wolfgang Amadé Mozart. His father Leopold Mozart, born in Augsburg in 1719, was the discoverer, sole educator, music teacher and 'manager' of Wolfgang Amadé. In Augsburg Leopold received his education and the musical training that he passed on to his son.
Wolfgang Amadé was in his native town five times (1763, 1766, 1777, 1781 and 1790). In 1777, during a two-week stay here, he experienced his first erotic adventure with his Augsburg cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart. As a result, Mozart's famous hearty "Bäsle letters" were written.
