Famous museums in America are different from museums in Europe. The word “museum” in Europe has something dusty about it, something that smells of “old”, “used” or “the past”. A museum in Germany or in other European countries - you can usually choose one at random - is deadly serious. They collect exhibits, hoard them in warehouses and now and then present them in exhibitions that also have something “warehouse-like” about them.
Museums in America are different from museums in Europe
Exhibits show museums in America in their overall context. Showcases are used, but in such a way that their contents can also be understood by laypeople. An exhibition on Meissen porcelain shows the exhibits lined up in showcases in which each individual item is meticulously described. The museum visitor often needs a magnifying glass to read all the information. In a museum that deals with the history of the Celts, finds are neatly lined up next to each other under glass hoods. Pottery that has been discovered as grave goods is presented exactly as it was found during the excavation. In a burial chamber in which the clay pots are jumbled up.
It is rare to find a way to reconstruct buildings as they might have looked during the heyday of Celtic culture. And when they do, they usually only consist of basic shapes or only hint at their shape. It is completely different in the USA and Canada ...
Famous museums in America are different
History comes alive in museums in America. The museum experience becomes even more lively during the summer months when people enliven these museum cities. In the village of Pilgrim Fathers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, there are specialists who represent a member of the first immigrants. Through Williamsburg, Virginia, “Thomas Jefferson” rides on the streets where he actually lived and worked. In Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, visitors must first undergo an inspection by a “soldier” before they are allowed to enter the French fortress town on Cape Breton. In Midland At Lake Huron you can watch "Huron Indians" growing corn, beans and pumpkins in the manner of their ancestors or smoking ducks in the smokehouse like "lay brothers".
Museums in Canada
Flip through the museums in Canada that we feature here on the blog. Follow the arrow and click on the photos or on "More information about the museum" and we will take you to museums that have nothing museum-like about them.
Maintain museums in America
The boring form of presenting new research findings and exhibits is usually in vain in museums in America. Even museums that have compiled an archive of exhibits from around the world - such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City - try to show their treasures in a context that is fascinating and entertaining.
Metropolitan Museum in New York - fascinating museums in America
This is well shown in the American Wing, which deals with the development of the art and history of America. It starts with putting together the exhibits in the interiors. If you want, you can take a stroll through the interiors of American houses in the American Wing, from colonial times to modern times. It continues in the exhibition of silversmithing. These are shown in showcases. Even in their forms, the works of art show how America has developed from a pioneering country to the society of today. Museums in America are easy to understand and appeal to visitors, not specialists.
The main hall of the American Wing is also beautiful. There you can see sculptures in front of the facade of a New York bank in an environment that is reminiscent of a park. Visitors can easily imagine the works of art in an environment for which they were intended. In general, the imagination of the visitors in museums in America is addressed more than in museums in Europe. There the visitor often has to laboriously build this up in his imagination.
Museum in the USA
Click your way through the museums in the USA that we present on our blog. They make you want to take a closer look at them.
History comes to life in museums in America
The presentation of the history, art and architecture of America and Canada in the “Living History” museums in America, of which there are many in both the USA and Canada, is even more vivid. Villages and even cities are lovingly reconstructed there in the style of an era that was historically important. In detailed work based on constant research, living spaces are created that can be historically proven. Exhibits that are shown in a row in other museums can be seen here in their surroundings. You can often watch them being made. The visitor gets a more vivid idea of life a century, two or three centuries ago and goes home feeling like they have learned something about it. I have to admit, I don't have this feeling in other museums.
Our tip: a visit to museums in America is worthwhile
There are only a few such museums in Europe where history can be seen and experienced. Visits to famous museums in America are therefore something special that even those who are grumpy museums shouldn't miss out on. Nowhere do you get such an insight into the development, way of thinking and mentality of the two peoples as there. Hence my tip for the trip: definitely visit one of the museums in America.
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Source: own research in museums in America
Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
