A new chapter in the history of the collection of stained glass of the Museum Schnütgen, which opened in 1910, began shortly before the Second World War with the reorganisation of the Cologne museums in 1930–1932. At that time, the large collection of stained glass from the holdings of the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) found its way into the collection of the Museum Schnütgen. This was a considerable enrichment, as it still constitutes the largest and most important part of the collection of stained glass to this day. Many of the glass paintings in this second collection owe their existence to the dedication of two Cologne collectors, Ferdinand Franz Wallraf (1748–1824) and Matthias Joseph De Noël (1782–1849), who, a generation before Alexander Schnütgen, had sought to save Cologne’s medieval stained glass.27 In 1930–1932, the collection was enriched by the large multi-part windows for which the museum is now famous, including the window of the Three Magi from the Cologne Council Chapel (cat. 6) and the window of the Ten Commandments from the Carmelite Church in Boppard (cat. 5). At the same time, the detachment of the Museum Schnütgen from the Kunstgewerbemuseum and its move to the spacious and light-filled rooms Fig. 4 Pasticcio panel with fragments of heads and figures from St. Maria Sion in Cologne, Cologne, c. 1230–1245 of the abbey of St. Heribert in Deutz provided an excellent opportunity to present the collection of stained glass in a new way, as only a few stained-glass windows had been mounted in front of the windows in the first museum presentation (fig. 6). In 1932, the museum’s first director, Fritz Witte (1876–1937), arranged the collection’s large glass paintings in a generous, light-filled space (fig. 7). His display concept was largely in line with what leading European and North American museum experts of the time considered to be a modern and appropriate museum presentation.28 The museum building, so well suited to the display of stained glass, was completely destroyed during the Second World War. Fortunately, the fragile works of art had been removed in time and stored in a safe place. In subsequent presentations of the collection, attempts were repeatedly made to recreate the display in Deutz Abbey. The Romanesque Church of St. Cecilia, where the Museum Schnütgen was the first Cologne museum to reopen after the war in 1956, offered a less suitable space despite its special atmosphere: from then on, some of the stained-glass paintings were presented in light boxes while others were mounted in 27 Wallraf had successfully campaigned to have the auction of the windows from the churches of St. Clara, St. Aper and St. Cecilia, scheduled for 29 November 1802, cancelled. Instead, he had the cloister glazing from the churches of St. Aper and St. Cecilia inventoried and transferred to the Jesuit College for safekeeping; see Wolff-Wintrich 1995, 341. 28 For example, Joseph Henry Breck (1885–1933), founding director of The Cloisters, affiliated to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, who also placed a special emphasis on stained glass in his presentation of the collection; see Shepard, 2019, 427–428. Fig. 5 Alexander Schnütgen’s private residence, c. 1910 28 29
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