Consisting of almost 300,000 ethnographic objects, SES is the second largest collection of its kind in Germany. Each of the three museums, founded in the late 19th century, has a different history.
Each has its own collecting traditions connected with its history. The museum in Leipzig focuses on ceramics, that in Dresden on textiles. As for Hernhut, its small collection contains only a few items from Uzbekistan. A total of 582 Uzbek items are registered in the collection, with 444 in Leipzig, 116 in Dresden and 22 in Hernhut.
Most were made in urban craft centers, the accompanying description providing only a purchase location, for example, Bukhara or Samarkand. 116 items in Dresden are textiles, among which 25 are suzanis. The oldest of them were donated to the museum in 1904.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album Collection of the Federal Republic of Germany from the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series (Volume XI, pp. 286-325).
The main sponsor of the project is the oilfield services company Eriell Group.
