Open-air museums: the experience and lessons of Germany

The article presents a historical and geographical analysis of the network of open-air museums in Germany. The analysis is based on the information from the national atlas of Germany (vol. 10, 2000) and the author's studies for the period of the 2000s through the example of Baden-Württemberg. The museum network of Germany has been considerably expanded in recent years and now is a spatial combination of museums with expositions of all the main chronological periods - the Stone and Bronze Ages, the Early Iron Age, the Early and Late Middle Ages, and also the modern times. This extension of the time frames of museum expositions makes it possible to model excursion routes with visiting centers (museums) in chronological order. The article presents an example of a chronological series of open-air museums using the example of Baden-Württemberg. The author assesses the cultural and historical resources of Germany for the organization of open-air museums and proposes to distinguish two groups of museums based on the main theme (and resource) - museums of settlement type and branch (functional) museums (transport, science, technology and culture). Scientific reconstructions based on archaeological settlements often are the ground of numerous museums-settlements. The options for accommodation and the forms of organization of such museums are very different. The network of regional museums of rural culture, representing typical buildings (residential and economic) and restored gardens and meadows with old varieties, where experimental studies to restore old breeds of livestock are conducted, is of particular importance. Such museums of "living history" are scientific and cultural centers, as well as large tourist attractions with a significant tourist flow. The author compares German and Russian open-air museums and notes the similarity of their thematic structure - development of three main directions (rural culture, history (and archeology), branches of the economy (and technology). Rural culture, the leading theme of such museums, is general for all of them. At the same time, the author points out the difference between open-air museums in regarded countries. German museums are created as scientific reconstructions of ancient and old settlements (including on the basis of archaeological excavations). Russian museums are mostly collections of preserved old houses and churches - mostly monuments of wooden architecture. Archaeological monuments of the settlement type - inadequately developed rich cultural and historical resource for the organization of open-air museums in Russia. The combination of scientific and cultural-cognitive directions with the leading role of science should remain a basis of museum activity.