Straßenmusik - Fahrende Musikanten und ihre Instrumente

TRAVELING MUSICIANS AND THEIR INSTRUMENTS

Traveling minstrels stood on the fringes of society, yet were needed on certain occasions. Their instruments belonged to genres that had once enjoyed a high reputation in sacred music, at court or among the bourgeoisie, but which waned noticeably over time and only experienced a brief heyday in the Rococo period.
Traveling musicians were associated with an image of freedom and originality, although this rarely corresponded to reality. Rather, they were usually driven by necessity from structurally weak areas to more prosperous regions, where they were only able to play more than the travel costs with luck under strict regulations.

The studio exhibition presents instruments used by traveling musicians, such as bagpipes, hurdy-gurdies and mechanical instruments like barrel organs. Together with pictorial sources and figures, they shed light on a subject whose historical dimensions hardly anyone is aware of when it comes to street music.