The visualisation shows the collection of historical drawings by Frederick William IV alongside a thematic and temporal arrangement.
Frederick William IV of Prussia (1795 – 1861) left a collection of drawings behind. They bear witness to historical events such as wars and revolutions, literary influences or personal obsessions with the devil. Numerous sheets reveal the planning eye of the King in the form of architectural visions and dreamy drafts. So far, 1492 sheets of drawings penned by the King have been fully accessed. In the framework of the research project "VIKUS", a visualisation has been developed that highlights thematic and historical connections within the drawings and makes them available for exploration in high resolution.
The drawings by Frederick William IV are part of the collection of prints and drawings of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg and have previously been published in a online inventory catalogue. Project partners of the research project »VIKUS - Visualising Cultural Collections«, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, are the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG) and the Programmfabrik GmbH. The visualisation is based on an online inventory catalogue of the drawings by Frederick William IV of Prussia. It was published in 2013 by the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG). The timeline information was supplemented with excerpts from the exhibition catalogue »Unglaublich ist sein Genie fürs Zeichnen« Friedrich Wilhelm IV. von Preußen (1795-1861) zum 150. Todestag, published on behalf of the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg by Jörg Meiner, 2011.