Tobias Mahler (Rechtenfleth): Unlocking and Utilizing Collections. On the Management of the Artistic Estate of Hermann Allmers.

The exploration and documentation of the artistic estate of the writer Hermann Allmers (1821–1902) is supported by the "Pro Niedersachsen" funding program of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture. As part of the research and dissertation project on the Allmers House and its collections, in cooperation with the Hermann-Allmers-Society e.V. and the Art History Seminar at the University of Göttingen, approximately 2,100 of Allmers' bequeathed "graphics" (hand drawings, prints, photographs) from the archive of the Cuxhaven district will be digitized and published in the database of "kulturerbe.niedersachsen.de" between 2024 and 2026. The lecture will highlight not only the difficulties and challenges encountered during the documentation process but also demonstrate how making objective information accessible can contribute to historical collection research and, in the specific case of Hermann Allmers' material and immaterial heritage, can provide new impulses regarding the cultural memory of Lower Saxony. Tobias Mahler, M.A., studied history and art history in Göttingen. As part of a research project, he is working on a dissertation with the working title "Education through Objects: The Allmers House and its Collections as Expressions of Communication, Socialization, and Identity Formation in the 19th Century."