Madame Tussaud

18 mai 2009

MADAME TUSSAUD'S MUSEUM:

Madame Tussauds in London

Madame Tussauds is a famous wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was set up by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud.

There are a lot of Madame Tussauds 's Museum:

Germany

Berlin, open in 2008

Pays-Bas

Amsterdam, open in 1970

USA

Las Vegas, open in 1999
New York, open in november 2000
Washington DC, open in october 2007

Chine

Hong Kong, open in 2000
Shanghai, open in 2006

History:

Marie Tussaud (1761–1850) was born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg, France. Her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, who was a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. In 1765, Curtius made a waxwork of Marie-Jeanne du Barry, Louis XV's mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display. The first exhibition of Curtius' waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a large audience. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in Paris in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the "Caverne des Grands Voleurs", a precursor to the later Chamber of Horrors.

Madame Tussauds in New York City

New Washington, D.C. location

Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now grown to become a major tourist attraction in London, incorporating (until recently) the London Planetarium in its west wing. It has expanded with branches in Amsterdam, Berlin, Las Vegas, New York City, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Washington, D.C., with an additional location scheduled to open in Hollywood in 2009. Today's wax figures at Tussauds include historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and famous murderers. Known as "Madame Tussauds" museums (no apostrophe), they are owned by a leisure company called Merlin Entertainments, following the acquisition of The Tussauds Group in May 2007.

In July 2008, Madame Tussauds' Berlin branch became embroiled in controversy when a 41 year old German man brushed past two guards and decapitated a wax figure depicting Adolf Hitler. This was believed to be an act of protest against showing the ruthless dictator alongside sports heroes, movie stars, and other historical figures. However, the statue has since been repaired and the perpetrator has admitted he attacked the statue to win a bet. The original model of Hitler, unveiled in Madame Tussauds London in April 1933 was frequently vandalised and a replacement in 1936 had to be carefully guarded.

^{A lot of peole have their sculpture:}