The Vermeer Center Delft brings back Johannes Vermeer to Delft. The center is located at the historical location of the Saint Lucas guild (painters guild) on the Voldersgracht. Johannes Vermeer is one of the best known artists from the Dutch Golden Age. His name is inextricably linked with Delft, the city in which he was born in 1632 and where he lived and worked all his life. His paintings found their way all over the world. The Vermeer Center Delft is housed on the historic site of the former St. Lucas Guild, where Vermeer was Dean of the painters for many years.
In the world of Vermeer, you experience 17th century Delft. Wandering through the famous ‘View of Delft’ and encounters with Vermeer's environment and the breeding ground for his talent: the blossoming academic and artistic climate in Delft, his customers, his family and his wealthy mother-in-law.
In Vermeer's world, life-size images of all his paintings have been brought together. An oeuvre of 36 paintings in which Vermeer created a whole new world.
References:The Petersberg Citadel is one of the largest extant early-modern citadels in Europe and covers the whole north-western part of the Erfurt city centre. It was built after 1665 on Petersberg hill and was in military use until 1963. It dates from a time when Erfurt was ruled by the Electors of Mainz and is a unique example of the European style of fortress construction. Beneath the citadel is an underground maze of passageways that can be visited on guided tours organised by Erfurt Tourist Office.
The citadel was originally built on the site of a medieval Benedictine Monastery and the earliest parts of the complex date from the 12th century. Erfurt has also been ruled by Sweden, Prussia, Napoleon, the German Empire, the Nazis, and post-World War II Soviet occupying forces, and it was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). All of these regimes used Petersberg Citadel and had an influence on its development. The baroque fortress was in military use until 1963. Since German reunification in 1990, the citadel has undergone significant restoration and it is now open to the public as a historic site.