Period (opening hours):Wednesday-Friday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday-Sunday: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Venue:Museum für Druckkunst Leipzig
Nonnenstraße 38
04229 Leipzig
The exhibition of the Giesecke+Devrient Foundation's banknote collection presents around 50 banknotes and invites visitors on a journey of discovery through sounds, cultural heritage and national identity. Similar to an orchestra in which different instruments work together in harmony, the banknotes are divided into five thematic areas to emphasise different aspects of their content. Heidi Specker's work "Noten, 2018", macro shots of a 100 DM note with Clara Schumann in four different colours, is also on display.
On the one hand, it is about the creators of classical music, whose works represent an important part of European identity as a sounding cultural heritage. Their compositions connect people and generations. The portraits on the banknotes are symbols of appreciation that go far beyond the material value of the notes.
Instruments are also often at the centre of banknote design. The inventor of the saxophone Alphonse Sax (1814-1894) was recognised on the French 200-franc note of 1995. His instrument helped jazz and swing achieve a global breakthrough and fundamentally changed musical genres.
An opening ceremony will take place on 5 March 2026 at 7 pm. In addition to a ceremonial inauguration of the exhibition, an exhibition of the three printing scholarship holders who received the scholarship sponsored by the Giesecke and Devrient Foundation at the Museum of Printing Arts in 2025 will also open.
More information and accompanying programme.
