After years of waiting, the time has come: Germany’s first museum for electronic music is celebrating its opening this Wednesday (6 April) in Frankfurt. At the start, an exhibition about DJ legend Sven Väth (57) will be shown there.
“There will be a lot to see, hear, touch and experience. A very large part of it resonates with me,” explained Väth in an interview with the German Press Agency. “I’ve also collected a lot of art over the last few years, so there will be a lot to see.”
Central location
The Museum Of Modern Electronic Music (Momem) is located on the mezzanine level at the Hauptwache. As early as Wednesday afternoon, there will be a program at the central square in the city center with “DJs, music and celebrations,” says museum director Alex Azary. “Anyone can come, admission is free.”
The highlight is then planned for the evening, when Väth is supposed to be at the turntables in person. There is also a reception for invited guests in the Paulskirche before the Momem is officially opened afterwards. The museum will then be open to the public from the following days.
The museum should also contribute to the upgrading of the Hauptwache. Because the momem doesn’t just want to take place inside, but also use the space in front of it. “We see the museum as a social space,” says Azary. It is also about bringing culture to the city center and reviving this place in a positive way.
A long way
And: In the hometown of famous clubs like Dorian Gray, Omen or U60311 and of DJs and trailblazers like Mark Spoon (1966 – 2006) and Talla 2XLC, Momem also wants to revive a part of local history. “We’ve done a lot in Frankfurt over the last 35 years, a lot has happened there. All of a sudden we were noticed internationally,” recalls Väth, who was born in Offenbach and who shaped Frankfurt’s celebration culture with the Omen and the Cocoon, among other things.
However, it was a long way to the opening. In 2015, the city announced at the Musikmesse that Frankfurt wanted to found the world’s first museum for electronic music. At that time it was said that Momem would start “mid-2017”.
Since then, the new Historical Museum, the new Jewish Museum and the new Romantic Museum have all been opened on the Main. But the momem didn’t make much headway. At first there were arguments about the financing, later the corona pandemic led to delays – but on Wednesday it should finally be time. (dpa)