Choir and Orchestra – Conductor and Composer • Schumann and the Düsseldorf School of Painting • Lower Rhine Music Festival 1853 • Mutual Dedications • Young Friends: Brahms & Joachim• Journeys to Holland and Hannover 1853/54 • Attempted Suicide and the Time in Endenich
The room dedicated to Schumann’s life in the Rhineland presents a bust of Robert Schumann modelled from life by Johann Peter Götting, a sculptor in Düsseldorf. This part of the exhibition includes an autograph title draft for the Rhenish Symphony and a contemporary image of Cologne Cathedral, which inspired Schumann to compose this symphony. Furthermore the visitor can discover programme booklet, poster and cartoon (by Christian Reimers) for the Lower Rhenish Music Festivals 1853 and 1855, an album dedicated to Joseph Joachim with a hair lock of Robert Schumann, the composer’s portfolio and walking stick as well as Clara Schumann’s parasol and the lifesaver medal which bridge master Joseph Jüngermann was awarded for saving Robert Schumann from drowning in the river Rhine when he tried to commit suicide on February 27, 1854.