Widokówka z Blutenburga. Muzeum Michaela Endego w Monachium

Abstract

The Michael Ende Museum in Munich was set up in 1998 as the first institution in Germany whose role was to popularize the output of one of the most distinguished representatives of world literature for children. The central holding of this museum is Michael Ende’s private archive, which was donated by Ende’s widow – Mariko Sato-Ende. It contains manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, recordings, computer games, paintings of his parents, Edgar and Luise Ende, personal belongings, furniture, and other objects. The rooms of the museum are located on the premises of the medieval Blutenberg Castle (in the suburbs of Munich), which houses the International Youth Library, the beneficiary of Ende’s legacy. The author of the paper looks at the literary museum as a possible form of making the history of literature for children more accessible to a mainstream audience, especially to the youngest readers. She analyzes the form of the exhibition devoted to the German writer, explores the exhibits and the ways in which they are presented, and the options to create biographical stories with the use of objects from the memorabilia of Ende.