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The Storm House in Husum
Admission:
Theodor Storm’s House in Husum Storm’s House at 31, Wasserreihe is the house in which the writer lived between 1866 and 1880. Dating from 1730, it is a former merchant’s house comprising of 13 rooms. The stairwell, hall, ceilings and doors are either original or from the writer’s time, the building hardly having been renovated by the proprietors between 1880 and 1969 when the town of Husum bought it. The contents belong to the Storm Society. The Museum, founded in 1972 by Professor Dr. Karl Ernst Laage is run by Dr. Gerd Eversberg. Visitors wishing to acquire further information about the writer, the Museum and the area will find a wide range of books, brochures and further material at the counter.
Ground floor: The hallway and the staircase date back to 1730. On the left (1) one proceeds into the writer’s living room (1866-1867) which was the setting of the novella Viola tricolor. On entering the next room (2) one finds oneself in the former merchant’s office. It is used today for a permanent exhibition of the life and works of Storm. The next room (3) was the administration office from which the judge Storm performed his duties between 1866 and 1867. The room behind this (4) was originally the reception room as mentioned in the novella Carsten Curator and it was the kitchen at the time of Storm. Today it is a conference room. Room 5 was the guest room of the Storm family (no access).
First floor: The first room (6) is the butler’s pantry containing the china of the family Storm-Woldsen which was imported from China in 1760. Rooms 7 and 8 are the two living rooms which Storm moved into in 1868 when he was forced for financial reasons to let out the lower floor. Among the original furniture and possessions there is a Biedermeier sofa with a deer hunt motive engraved on the backrest (as described in the novella Drüben am Markt), mahogany chairs, an oval couch table from which Storm used to read his works aloud to his family and his friends, the writer’s piano which “seldom remained untouched for a day” as quoted in his novella Ein stiller Musikant and paintings by the artist Nikolai Sunde, the model for the humpbacked painter in Eine Malerarbeit. In room 8 one finds the writing desk belonging to his wife Constanze, the coloured engravings of “Paul et Virginie” as described in Drüben am Mark and the doll’s cradle (“Dodo 1877”). The Hademarschen room (9), the former main bedroom, recalls the village where the writer spent his last years between 1880 and his death in July 1888. One finds there the writing desk made by the Sauermann workshop in Flensburg. The four owls which are incorporated in the top of the desk where Storm wrote his novella Der Schimmelreiter were carved by the famous expressionist painter Emil Nolde (1867-1956). Beside it stands Theodor Storm’s music desk. From the hall one enters room 10 which was formerly the children’s bedroom. Today it is an exhibition room with changing displays. Across the hall is a small staircase (11) which Storm had made (1867-68) in order to have his own entrance to his apartment. It is used today for exhibits about places which Storm visited or stayed at. On the left at the end of the hallway (12) one enters the former kitchen of Storm’s apartment. Today it is a room reserved exclusively for the picture archives (available by appointment only). On the right one steps into the “Poetenstübchen” (13), a dark room dominated by red walls and built when he had to let out the lower floor. Storm used to describe it as a “poetic study”. This room has not been altered since Storm’s days. (see the letter to Eggers by the door). More than 20 novellas were written here, including Pole Poppenspäler. One can take a walk in the garden which dates back to 1856 and in the courtyard with its old pump. The former laundry where different exhibits are on display is also worth visiting. The garden has been restored in keeping with details concerning plants and flowers as mentioned in the writer’s letters.
The Hademarschen room (9), the former main bedroom, recalls the village where the writer spent his last years between 1880 and his death in July 1888. One finds there the writing desk made by the Sauermann workshop in Flensburg. The four owls which are incorporated in the top of the desk where Storm wrote his novella Der Schimmelreiter were carved by the famous expressionist painter Emil Nolde (1867-1956). Beside it stands Theodor Storm’s music desk. From the hall one enters room 10 which was formerly the children’s bedroom. Today it is an exhibition room with changing displays. Across the hall is a small staircase (11) which Storm had made (1867-68) in order to have his own entrance to his apartment. It is used today for exhibits about places which Storm visited or stayed at. On the left at the end of the hallway (12) one enters the former kitchen of Storm’s apartment. Today it is a room reserved exclusively for the picture archives (available by appointment only). On the right one steps into the “Poetenstübchen” (13), a dark room dominated by red walls and built when he had to let out the lower floor. Storm used to describe it as a “poetic study”. This room has not been altered since Storm’s days. (see the letter to Eggers by the door). More than 20 novellas were written here, including Pole Poppenspäler. A short biography of Theodor Storm Theodor Storm was born on 14th September 1817 at N° 9 Market Place (Marktplatz) in Husum. After leaving Grammar School in Lübeck in 1837 he studied law in Kiel and in Berlin. He returned to Husum where he worked as a lawyer from 1843 to 1853. Disagreeing with the Danish government's policies in Schleswig-Holstein after its proclamation of the new constitution Storm chose to leave his home town for Potsdam and Heiligenstadt in Thuringia where he earned his living as a junior barrister for the Prussian Ministry of Justice. In 1864 he was appointed back to Husum to work as a local judge. He was also responsible for the police and the decisions regarding guardianship. In 1880 he left Husum to live in Hademarschen, near Itzehoe. Storm died of cancer on 4th July 1888 and was buried in the cemetery of St Jürgen in Osterende, Husum.
The Theodor Storm Society The objectives of the Society are to promote the author’s work, to encourage research and to support the preservation and upkeep of places and houses connected with Theodor Storm. The Society organizes a conference dedicated to Storm every year in Husum to which leading authorities are invited. The society also offers exhibitions and excursions to which everybody is welcome. The Society maintains a specialist library, a picture archive, a manuscript archive and a large collection of photocopied manuscripts and documents. These resources enable the Society to answer queries from all over the world. They are also available to anyone interested in Storm, particularly those doing research on him: PhD candidates, editors, translators, journalists and producers - Please give notice in advance. The library and archives belong to the research centre which publishes Storm’s correspondences (14 volumes to date), editions of Storm’s novellas with commentaries, The Annual Bulletin of the Storm House (Mitteilungen aus dem Storm-Haus) and The Annual Review of the Storm Society (Schriften der Theodor-Storm-Gesellschaft). There are at present 1400 members from over 20 countries all over the world. Its members have free admission into the museum and receive Mitteilungen and Schriften free of charge. The annual membership fee is at least 26 € and 16 € for pupils, and students (Translation Dr. J. und C. Lefebvre, 2001) |
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