New curator joins Sunderland Museum to help put the past into the future

A new curator at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens is exploring the city’s past to help shape the future of the museum.

Collections care development manager Anneke Hackenbroich is unearthing hidden stories in the museum’s stores, ready to share them as part of redeveloping the museum.

Anneke, from Stuttgart, graduated from Schwäbisch Gmünd University of Education with a degree in German history and political science.

She completed a PhD there before starting work as a teacher before entering the museum sector.

Members of the museum’s team and a team of volunteers are helping Anneke with her huge task.

Anneke said: “My job is to work my way through the museum’s storerooms to find objects and stories that might be suitable for display in new spaces created for the redeveloped museum.

“Our stores are full to the brim, which is unsurprising given Sunderland’s rich history, and although the majority of items have been catalogued, some of these items have not been seen for many years.

“We’ve found all sorts of items, some of which have been difficult to identify or work out exactly what they are.

“We’re making exciting finds every week, and recently I found a beautiful sextant that hadn’t been catalogued. It’s great to bring these things that are central to Sunderland’s history back into the light.

“Some of the objects we’re looking at date back many years, while others are a little more recent, and they range from paintings and artwork to military memorabilia, and from items from the city’s industrial and maritime heritage and household products.

“We’re currently looking into what we have and exploring whether we have some objects with an exciting, interesting story that hasn’t yet been told.”

A £300,000 National Lottery Heritage Fund grant was announced in 2022 for Sunderland City Council to draw up detailed plans for a proposed multi-million pound development of the museum.

Proposals include moving the main entrance into Mowbray Park, transforming the ground floor with a new central atrium, new galleries and more family-friendly activities and exhibitions.

The redevelopment will also create a new learning and engagement zone.

The grant allows the council to continue its plans and apply for a full grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund later in 2024.