Dr. Irmgard Sedler, born in Transylvania in 1951, studied German and Romance languages and literature at the Sibiu Department of the Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj, followed by postgraduate studies in ethnology and museology in Bucharest. She completed a doctorate in the field of identity and cultural mechanisms in the multi-ethnic area of Transylvania. Until leaving for the Federal Republic of Germany in 1991, she worked as a senior conservator and department director at the Brukenthal National Museum in Hermannstadt/Sibiu, and from 1992 as department head, then director of the museums of the city of Kornwestheim (Museum im Kleihues-Bau, Schulmuseum Nordwürttemberg, Stadtgeschichtliche Sammlungen/Salamander). Sedler retired in 2018. Since 1999, she has served as chairwoman of the supporting association of the Transylvanian Museum Gundelsheim. She has curated numerous exhibitions and museum institutions in Germany, Russia, Romania and Austria and has been a member of several scientific commissions, whose research focus include the history, culture and art of Southeastern Europe.
Research interests: Identity constructions in the mirror of material culture – with a special focus on clothing and fashion, shoe history, habitat, interethnics; other areas of interest include Salamander company history and contemporary art in Germany.
Publications: The Landler in Transylvania. Group identity in the mirror of clothing. Elwert Marburg 2004; Im Zeichen des Salamander. Company history in self-testimonies. Kohlhammer Stuttgart 2014; Noblesse & Raffinement. The courtly shoe in the baroque and rococo periods. Wasmuth Tübingen 2019.
Background article

Hanklich

A celebratory cake baked by Transylvanian Saxons
The cultural diversity of Transylvania is reflected in the culinary culture of the region, which has been shaped by extremely varied influences, diverse ethnic groups, and their eventful histories. An exciting example of this is a flat, yeast cake called hanklich.
Irmgard Sedler
Object story

A Doctor and his Military Case

In March 2015, a military case from the First World War was donated to the Transylvanian Museum. It accompanied Dr. Wilhelm Hager during World War I to the southern front – to Bosnia and the Isonzo, and then to the eastern front, to Galicia, Bukovina, Bessarabia and, finally, in 1918 to South...
Irmgard Sedler
Object story

A Transylvanian church fur from South Africa

Among the numerous pieces of traditional costume at the Transylvanian Museum in Gundelsheim is one whose change of ownership and the resulting journey render it a fitting symbol of the collective fate of entire families, indeed entire Saxon village communities from northern Transylvania in the 20th...
Irmgard Sedler