You don't have to live in London to understand what Baker Street is. Ask anyone you meet, and with a high probability they will answer you that this is the native street of the glorious detective Sherlock Holmes. Despite the fact that this is a fictional character, the city authorities specially allocated a room on Baker Street, which they arranged in the form of a museum dedicated to the identity of the detective. But just walk around the corner from this place and you will find yourself on the very remarkable Marylbone Road.
Not far from the planetarium is another equally popular and interesting museum. It is distinguished by its large green domed roof and is one of the most famous museums in the world. Moreover, it is one of the oldest, because it was founded in 1835. This, of course, is Madame Marie Tussauds Wax Museum.
Memory of myself
Among the wide variety of celebrities who have been immortalized during their lifetime or posthumously, you canto meet the figure and Madame herself. She made it herself. Marie Tussauds looks very simple and modest: a simple old woman in a black dress and no less gloomy hat. The artist made her wax self-portrait at the age of 81. Of course, she could make a figure of herself in a younger version when she was attractive. Nevertheless, she wanted to be remembered by people as she became at the moment of her greatest fame and fortune. She was able to come to success precisely on the slope of her life.
Dark legacy
A large number of people have heard about the Marie Tussauds museum, however, the features of her life have always been somewhat hidden and not widely spread. Her real name is Grosholtz. She is a descendant of the old dynasty of Grossholtz executioners. But already her father moved away from the family business, choosing a more humane business. Johann Joseph was engaged in the production of engravings, but he died before her birth. Nevertheless, it is precisely this "dark legacy" that has left an imprint on all her work.
It's no surprise that visiting a museum in London, one can come across such gloomy displays as the "Torture Chamber", which is full of numerous, terrifyingly realistic sculptures of murderers, their victims, as well as executioners with their devices.
The beginning of life's journey
The story of Marie Tussauds begins in Germany, where she was born in December 1761. Her uncle Philip Curtius was involved in her upbringing in connection with the death of her father. He worked as a doctor, and very successful and in demand. However, his true vocation was the creation of enamel miniatures, as well as anatomical waxfigures. It was from her uncle that Anna Marie Tussaud learned all the techniques and secrets, revealing her talent.
In 1767, Philip and his niece went to Paris. There they begin to call him Kurte, and he very quickly gained fame and recognition due to the quality of his work. His very first work was the figure of Marie Dubari, who was the mistress of King Louis XV.
Debut work
Marie Tussauds at first was only selling tickets, attracting guests to her uncle's gallery. As an independent artist, she made her debut by making three amazing figures - Voltaire, Franklin and Rousseau. The talent of the young talent did not go unnoticed. Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette invited her to Versailles. There she worked for 10 years, constantly improving her outstanding talent. Many artists could only dream of such a combination of circumstances.
Time of Troubles
However, the biography of Madame Tussauds was not so happy and carefree. The revolution began, and everything changed in her life. The royal family, its benefactors were sent to the guillotine and lost their heads. It is known about Madame Tussauds that she was considered a "royalist" and sent to prison.
Josephine Beauharnais was in the dungeons with her. In the future, she will become Napoleon's mistress and Empress of France. Both women had already been shaved for the guillotine, but at the very last moment they decided to pardon them. The new political power demanded from the sculptor to prove her loy alty - she needs toit was to make the death masks of the royal couple, which at one time helped the girl so much. She was sent to the body dump to look for the heads of the king and queen. To put it mildly, the process of such a search was not pleasant.
Return to work
After this action, the government no longer bothered Marie Tussauds, so she was able to return to her beloved job. There was a lot of wax, but she always lacked hair for her figures. But Mary already knew the way out of this situation. She begged for a pass to the prison, in the cellars of which the severed heads of the executed were piled. It was the hair from these heads that she decided to use for her own purposes. Obtaining such a permit was a very difficult task, but her maiden name Grosholtz helped her. She was perceived as the heiress of famous executioners, so her "colleagues" respected her requests.
Marriage
At that time, Mary had not yet received the name of Tussauds. Only in 1795 did she marry the engineer Francois Tussaud. Nevertheless, the newly-made Marie Tussauds was not happy in her marriage. After eight years of married life, they decided to divorce. Francois leaves his wife with two sons, as well as a family name that she will glorify for centuries.
After the death of Uncle Philip in 1794, Maria inherited his entire collection of works and continued his work. France becomes not the most favorable place to live: constant conflicts, wars and unrest. Madame Tussauds decides to move to England, shortly before finishingsculpture of Napoleon. It is worth noting that the figure has outlived its original and is still located inside the London Museum, being the most valuable exhibit.
British stage of life
For 33 years Madame Tussaud's traveling collection has been traveling around the British Isles, constantly adding new exhibits. In addition to representatives of the English beau monde and historical figures, the artist is creating a gallery of criminals. She forms a friendship with John Williams, an executioner in Edinburgh, which gives her easy access to the inside of the prison. There she was engaged in obtaining casts from the faces of the executed, and she made casts of some of the prisoners while they were still alive.
Settled life
It wasn't until 1835 that the sculptor decided to settle down on Baker Street. Here she bought herself an attractive mansion and arranged all the exhibits inside its halls. It is from this moment that the countdown for her museum officially begins, although it is obvious that it existed long before that. The story of Madame Tussauds ended at the age of 89. With her death, her sons, Francis and Joseph, took over the management of the museum. The photo of Marie Tussauds has practically not survived, but her self-portrait allows you to clearly know everything about her appearance in the last years of her life.
Until 2007, the Tussauds Group was the owner of the museum. But the owners could not resist the proposed $2 billion and part of the shares of the mega-corporation, so they decided to sell the legacy of the American company Blackstone. They also ownchain of amusement parks "Legoland".
Popularity of the museum through the ages
The museum has become famous all over the world. During its existence, over 500 million people have visited it. Today, about 14 million tourists visit the London and other world branches every year.
The oldest item in the collection is Madame Dubari. This is a figure made by Philip Curtius. The museum is distinguished by the presence of over 1000 various wax figures that depict popular and influential personalities of the world. Every year the collection expands by about 20 exhibits. The production of one figure takes from two months to six months. Sometimes this takes much longer. A lot depends on the pose and the number of open areas of the figure's body.
Most of all sculptures were made on the basis of living originals. During the taking of measurements, it was necessary to take over 150 different measurements. Moreover, the exhibits need constant care. Hairstyles for dolls are periodically styled and corrected by a team of professional hairdressers. It costs up to £1,000 and 2 to 5 weeks to completely change the hairstyle for exhibits.
Modern exhibits
Life is constantly moving forward. Some figures lose their relevance and are removed to the warehouse, and new ones are put in their place. For example, Boris Yeltsin has already been removed, but the wax version of Putin is still considered one of the most popular among politicians. Museum this placeis only in name. We can say that this is a real honors board, a unique mausoleum, where you can get only thanks to your merits or great fame.
Most importantly, time has practically stopped here. The ever-young Beatles rock together, the beautiful Marilyn Monroe dazzles with her smile. Elvis Presley is young and beautiful, and Michael Jackson froze in the last step of his moonwalk. He also holds the record for the most figures. The museum houses 14 versions of Michael Jackson.
Branches all over the planet
There are 9 Tussauds wax museums in the world. They are located in the capital of England, London, as well as in Amsterdam, Berlin, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood, Washington. Of course, the expositions in each of them can somehow repeat each other. It mainly depends on which country or city the branch is located in.
For example, in the London branch in the most honorable place is the royal couple. On the territory of the United States, the most honors are given to former presidents of the country. Hollywood has the most screen stars. Traveling to Hong Kong, you will see Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in the places of honor, as well as the popular actress Asharvaya Rai, who is familiar to our viewers thanks to her role in the film The Last Legion.
The youngest branch is the branch in Berlin, which opened in 2008. Here you can admire the beautiful Marlene Dietrich with a black top hat and a long cigarette in her hand. There is also Hitler, depicted inthe last hours of his life. It is worth noting that the public ambiguously perceived the presence of such an exhibit in the museum. Once there was an "assault" on the figure. The man attacked the Fuhrer and tore off his head. The vandal was fined, and the head returned to the shoulders of the dictator. It is worth noting that despite the wave of criticism against the museum, they never removed this exhibit.
Russian personalities on the territory of museums are represented by such persons as Lenin, Gagarin, Catherine the Great, Peter the Great, Fyodor Dostoevsky and others.
