The Architecture and History of the House

A Successful Mix of Styles

No one who visits a specialized library expects to find themselves surrounded by an ensemble of almost completely preserved Art Nouveau interiors, which form a harmonious entity with their historicist furnishings. Such an aesthetic experience is as rare today as the luck of encountering a collection still housed in the collector’s home.

Hardly any of the furniture, paintings or applied arts objects found in the formal rooms on the ground floor date from after 1900. Proudly protected by Hermine von Parish herself, throughout the house one encounters the legacies of her ancestors, including numerous paintings by her grandfather, the painter Emanuel Spitzer.

The Nymphenburg villa at Wotanstraße 50, the street’s former name, was built and furnished in 1900/1901 by the renowned, Munich-based "Rank Brothers’ Construction Company" for the officer and musician Friedrich Wilhelm von Schirach (Philadelphia 1870-1924 Munich). By 1916, the Schirach family sold the house to Hermine von Parish Sr., who would not move in to the villa with her daughter until 1936. With its dark colors and a look dominated by wood and iron, the rustic Art Nouveau no longer corresponded to the taste of the time and was brightened with overpainting and wallpaper.

The elaborate renovation of the interiors from 2019 to 2021 was successful in bringing back the original interior design of the Rank brothers, which was largely still preserved under all the added layers of paint and wallpaper.

Visitor Information

The Von Parish Costume Library is a closed stack library.

Loans and interlibrary loans are not possible, with the exception of loan requests for exhibition purposes.

The library is available to the public in addition to the option of a fee-based research service.

To visit the library pre-registration and an appointment is required.

Contact

Von Parish Kostümbibliothek
Kemnatenstraße 50
80639 München, Nymphenburg

Dr. Esther Sophia Sünderhauf, Head

Phone +49-(0)89-177717
E-Mail: kostuembibliothek.
stadtmuseum@muenchen.de

How to Get Here

From the city center using public transport: S-Bahn station Laim, then take exit Wotanstraße with bus 51 or 151 to stop Kemnatenstraße.


Plan Your Visit

Getting here

S/U-Bahn station: Marienplatz
U-Bahn station: Sendlinger Tor
Bus 52/62 stop: St.-Jakobs-Platz

Contact

St.-Jakobs-Platz 1
80331 München
Phone +49-(0)89-233-22370
Fax +49-(0)89-233-25033
E-Mail stadtmuseum(at)muenchen.de
E-Mail filmmuseum(at)muenchen.de

Ticket reservation Phone +49-(0)89-233-24150