Throughout all stylistic periods from the Renaissance to the present day, representations of European cities have been found – first on medals, later on coins – since the mid-16th century. The medal artists and coin die-cutters often based their designs on existing prints. City views have appeared on paper money since the 19th century.
Thereby, German imperial cities expressed their self-confidence, while secular and ecclesiastical princes proudly presented their princely residence. For the most part, however, the depiction of cities was not an end in itself, but was associated with a specific event: acclaiming princes, wars and victories, marking anniversaries of cities, universities or the Reformation, or commemorating natural disasters.
Many important, but also less well-known, cities are thus immortalised on numismatic objects and capture contemporary panoramas from different perspectives and in various forms of representation. Drawing from the rich holdings of the Münzkabinett, the exhibition will trace a journey through time covering more than 400 years.
