Abraham and David Roentgen "Neuwied Furniture" for Europe

Abraham Roentgen (1711-1793) and his son David (1743-1807), the most significant furniture artists of the 18th century, supplied their then highly modern luxury furniture, the "Neuwied Furniture," to the European courts between Paris and St. Petersburg. Their clients included the Russian Empress Catherine the Great, King Louis XVI of France, King Frederick William II of Prussia, and even Goethe's father. In rooms designed to complement the furniture, numerous secretaries, convertible tables, commodes, chairs, and boxes, adorned with precious inlay work and gilded bronze decor as well as technical refinements, provide an excellent overview of the variety of Neuwied production. Outstanding is the "Apollo Clock," a magnificent musical clock by David Roentgen, which he created together with the famous Neuwied clockmaker Peter Kinzing and delivered to the Russian court in St. Petersburg. Portraits of the Counts and Princes of Wied in the 17th and 18th centuries, along with views and plans of the town of Neuwied, document the founding and early development of the baroque residence town of Neuwied. The religious tolerance of the ruler Count Friedrich Alexander of Wied allowed the immigration of the Moravian Brethren, to whom Abraham Roentgen also belonged. The Roentgen-Kinzing collection is supplemented by furniture from the Baroque and Rococo periods, from the Biedermeier era in the early 19th century, and from the Art Nouveau period around 1900. Together with paintings, graphics, and decorative arts objects, they provide insight into the living culture of these epochs.

A department is also dedicated to the cooperative founder Mr. Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, who was also the mayor of Heddesdorf. The permanent exhibitions are continually supplemented by special exhibitions.

Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen
In a museum pedagogically and multimedia-prepared presentation, visitors learn about the life stages of "Father Raiffeisen," on whom today's Raiffeisen cooperatives and Raiffeisen banks are based. In 1852, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (1818-1888) became mayor in Neuwied-Heddesdorf. The plight of the population in the Westerwald prompted him to establish various associations and cooperatives as help for self-help. From Raiffeisen's idea, whose name is now world-renowned, an international and efficient organization developed. The Westerwald rooms, furnished with furniture and household items from Raiffeisen's time, form an important addition to the social historical context of the great cooperative founder. This provides insight into the life of "ordinary" people, a social class different from the clientele for Roentgen furniture or Kinzing clocks.