Wagner Museum officially joins the network of the Venice Civic Museums Foundation

After the Torcello Museum, the Wagner Museum also officially joins the MUVE network, thanks to an agreement signed between the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, the Venice Casino and theRichard Wagner Association. It is scheduled to begin operations in 2027 and will be accompanied by interventions aimed at enhancing the venue, activities and collections.

Founded in 1995 at the initiative of the Richard Wagner Association of Venice and housed at Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, the Richard Wagner Museum now becomes the fourteenth museum in the network of Venetian museums. The agreement was signed in the presence of representatives of the institutions involved, including Fondazione Musei Civici President Mariacristina Gribaudi, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro, and Councilwoman for Culture Giorgia Pea.

According to the agreement, the Fondazione Musei Civici will take over the management of the museum spaces located inside the Casino, along with the collections stored within them. This is an extremely valuable heritage, consisting of rare documents, posters, musical scores, autograph letters, paintings, records, lithographs and other memorabilia related to the German composer, in addition to works already belonging to the civic collections.

The museum’s operational entry into the MUVE network will take place in 2027, following the completion of a preliminary phase of study and planning of the necessary interventions. The aim will be to enhance the historical and cultural enhancement of the museum, while improving its accessibility and enjoyment, and contributing to enriching the overall offer of the Venetian Civic Museums. This heritage also fits into a broader cultural path already developed by MUVE, in dialogue with realities such as the Carlo Goldoni House for the history of theater and opera libretto, the Correr Museum for its collections of musical instruments, and the Fortuny Museum, linked to the figure of Mariano Fortuny. The latter, although he never met Wagner, was profoundly influenced by him thanks to his contact with the intellectual, critic and Beaux-Arts official Angelo Conti, sharing his Wagnerian philosophical ideal. As early as nineteen years old, Fortuny in fact began translating suggestions from Wagner’s musical dramas into painting, which can be seen today in the Wagner Rooms of the Fortuny Museum.

The museum is housed on the mezzanine floor of the historic 15th-century palazzo Ca’ Vendramin Calergi, a place where Richard Wagner (Leipzig, 1813 - Venice, 1883) stayed several times. Here the composer found refuge from personal anxieties and sought new inspiration in a secluded and quiet setting. Venice became a privileged place for him, where he spent the last winter of his life together with his family until his sudden death on February 13, 1883.

“With the entry of the Wagner Museum into the network of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia we add a new prestigious piece to the city’s cultural heritage. It becomes the 14th museum in the MUVE network: an important achievement, which confirms Venice’s ability to preserve its history by opening it more and more to the world. Wagner is a universal figure, and the fact that the museum dedicated to him becomes a permanent part of the Venetian civic system further strengthens the international profile of our cultural offerings,” says Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro.

“The entry of the Wagner Museum into the network of Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia contributes to strengthening the encyclopedic vocation of our museum system,” says MUVE President Mariacristina Gribaudi, “creating new connections with other Venetian museums, from music to theater to visual arts. Our commitment will, once again, be one of care: enhancing this heritage by making it increasingly accessible and integrated into the city’s cultural itineraries.”

For the President of the Venice Casino, Riccardo Ventura, “this agreement enhances the historical narrative of Ca’ Vendramin Calergi. The value of the Maestro’s works, hitherto guarded by the passion of refined connoisseurs, now opens to a more universal embrace, becoming an integral part of the cultural and museum offer that the City addresses to the world.”

“The Richard Wagner Association of Venice, the International Richard Wagner Foundation of Venice and the entire international Wagnerian world,” concludes Alessandra Althoff Pugliese, president of the Richard Wagner Association of Venice, “are overjoyed and satisfied that, more than 30 years after the cultural agreement in the name of Richard Wagner between Venice and Bayreuth - a Wagner city - we have signed the agreement with the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia for the future management and development of the Richard Wagner Museum. Together, with the support of the City of Venice, our founding partner, we have reached this coveted milestone and look forward to future collaboration with the Venice Civic Museums.”

Wagner Museum officially joins the network of the Venice Civic Museums Foundation

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