Museum for Industrial Culture

Culture and Industry

Historic ensembles are presented along a "Museum Street", linking technical, cultural and social history. On one side of the street, museum units such as e.g. a steam engine shed or a print workshop show the working life of the industrial age. On the other side of the street, residential premises or a cinema reflect everyday life outside the factory or the office. The museum continues its story by following developments up to the present and by taking a look at the future.

The focus is not on the major historic events such as wars or political upheaval, but rather on the lives of people from all walks of society: on their everyday lives, their living and working conditions, their way of celebrating, educating themselves and relaxing, their art and culture, and on the connections between public and private life. All this is closely linked with the history of industrialisation in Nuremberg - the city which in the 19th century was the throbbing industrial heart of Bavaria.

Gypsum Mill

Museum Street starts by taking a look at work and technology, illustrated by a gypsum mill which in former times used to be powered by the waters of the river Pegnitz. It represents numerous similar water-powered plants from pre-industrial times, such as flour mills, hammer-mills and many others.

Kettensteg Suspension Bridge

The model of Nuremberg's "Kettensteg" suspension bridge commemorates the times before industrialisation. This was one of Germany's first iron bridges. In 1824, the "Kettensteg" was built immediately adjacent to the old fortifications near Hallertor by Nuremberg mechanic and teacher at the Polytechnic, Konrad Georg Kuppler. At that time, technical journals such as "Dinglers Polytechnisches Journal" (Dingler's Polytechnical Journal) spread the news of novel bridges constructed from cast iron and wrought iron chains, but there was no theory of suspension bridge construction.

So Kuppler used the few construction drawings published in the journal and largely employed empirical methods when implementing his bridge model "executed with circumspection and thoroughness according to the laws of statics and mechanics". The bridge, completed on 30 December, 1824, became the technical model for numerous other suspension bridges.

J. W. Spaeth Engineering Works

A two-stroke piston steam engine and a small machine hall powered via belt-gearing commemorate the former "mill doctor", Johann Wilhelm Spaeth. His engineering works manufactured the small steam engine on display which is fully functional and may be demonstrated. Spaeth mainly employed craftsmen who produced engines on their own account, usually in small numbers. There were only two copies of the exhibited steam engine, and the model seen here has 15 PS, and served in Nuremberg railway repair yard.

Steam Engine Hall

Unlike the Spaeth Machine Company, the MAN company, formerly Cramer Klett, systematically concentrated its efforts on factory production. In the museum, this is symbolised mainly by the huge MAN tandem steam engine which used to power an entire rolling train in the Julius Tafel iron works with its approximately 1110 PS horsepower. During museum demonstrations, the steel giant still impresses with its majestic starting movements. Electric generators and turbines provided further motors for industrialisation.

Print Workshop

The fully functioning, ready-to-use hot-metal setting print workshop in 1930s style, brings to life again an old technique which disappeared with the rise of computers. During demonstrations given by experienced printers, visitors may lend a hand, for example by designing and printing new visiting cards.

Fascinating Speed

The Museum for Industrial Culture has one of the Federal Republic's largest sports collections which is a testimony to Nuremberg's past as a stronghold of sports, but is also of national importance. The new museum unit presents a selection of exhibits on speed-oriented sports, such as running, cycling and motorcycle sports. It talks about the bicycle race track in Reichelsdorfer Keller and the Norisring car racing track. They are both central sites where Nuremberg sports history took place. The presentation establishes a link right to the present day. At the same time it demonstrates how further parts of the sports collection might be displayed to the public in a dedicated Sports Museum.

The Technology Revue

Nuremberg's role as a pioneer in the fields of telecommunication and radio and TV technology is all but forgotten. The city owed this reputation not least to the Süddeutsche Telefonapparate, Kabel und Drahtwerke AG (TeKaDe), the company which produced Germany's first television sets.

Using over 500 exhibits, the museum shows the development from "classical" electrical company to the era of modern telecommunications. In an unusually staged show, some central exhibits take to the stage as index objects in a DVD video theatre show. A well-known host acts as a guide through the history of telecommunications. Visitors will not only learn about an exciting chapter of technical history, but also experience an audio play on German history of the 20th century.

The revue may be supplemented by a stroll through the comprehensive collection.

Structural Change and Automation

The walk along the "time axis" of the Museum Streets covers 200 years of Nuremberg's history and takes visitors right through to the present day, ending in a new, technically sophisticated museum unit. It shows Nuremberg's transformation from industrial city to a stronghold of the service industry, of science and education. There were winners and losers in this structural change. Companies and sectors of industry with a long tradition changed to adapt to the challenges of globalisation and were strengthened by this process. In addition, a strong complement of medium sized companies, a list of "hidden champions" and new companies, such as DATEV or GfK, made sure that the overall number of jobs in Nuremberg has not decreased. Today, Nuremberg is the centre of a European Metropolitan Region.

The history of the PC, the invention of the mp3 format or a robot for lorry engine manufacture are all part of this topic. All these elements are grouped around the central topic of structural change and automation. The media used are state-of-the art, while for some of the attractive stations, the motto is: please DO touch!

Historic Classroom

Across the Museum Street - with a link to both everyday work and leisure - there is an original classroom from the turn of the 20th century. This is where "lessons from 1910" are held on an almost daily basis. Today's school classes are amazed when experiencing the lessons - which were sometimes anything but fun - as their grandparents' generation experienced them. The classroom is linked to the School Museum via a staircase.

Dentist's Surgery

One look back at the development of medical technology, using the example of dentistry, reveals machines which will make you cringe with pain by just looking at them. In front of the surgery, a dental "Klinemobil" is parked, one of the mobile dental units which filled entire generations of pupils with dread in the 1950s and 1960s whenever they appeared in the school yards.

Trade and Residential Premises

This is where visitors may take a look at the more private areas of life. The worker's apartment with its kitchen-cum-living room and its "good room" shows how workers' families lived around the turn of the 20th century. A hairdresser's and a grocer's shop complete the ensemble.

Workers' club

When Nuremberg became the major Bavarian industrial centre, a very varied and strong workers' movement was generated alongside. The museum unit shows the many facets of the workers' club culture. On special occasions, beer is still on tap in this club room where singers, sportsmen and trade unionists used to meet, and visitors may drink their pint at the bar dating back to 1906.

1. FCN Football Club

The history of the 1. FCN Football Club is mirrored in the sports collection of the Museum for Industrial Culture. Nine times German champions, four times German cup winner, with its many unforgotten victories and tragic defeats, the "Club", side by side with Schalke 04, is probably Germany's most traditional football club. The first club chronicle from 1900, Max Morlock's World Cup strip from 1954, the ball from the World Cup final in 1961, and the tactics sketch made by Hans Meyer before the Club's 3:0 defeat of Bayern Munich in February 2007 bring to life the football club's colourful history since its foundation days.

Household: Everything Electric

This museum unit called "Everything Electric" is dedicated to the topic of technology and electrical appliances in the household. Cooking, washing, ironing and cleaning - just a few keywords for this show.

An audio play presents three eras on a turning stage - taking visitors back to 1900, 1930, and 1960. Light and sound effects give them the impression that they are a experiencing a conspiracy of cooker, fridge and their pals against the housewife. The fun show provides information on the development of household appliances since the turn of the 20th century. An integrated exhibition illustrates this history with many exhibits.

Museum cinema: "Noris-Theater"

The partial reconstruction of the "Noris-Theater", which in its time was the first permanently installed cinema in Nuremberg, focuses on Nuremberg cinema history, but also on the history of the medium of film itself. From camera obscura to laterna magica, from street ballads to cinemas at fun fairs and film palaces - cinema developed along these lines. The foyer proudly presents the 1925 "Askania"-type film camera belonging to Nuremberg film pioneer, Philipp Nickel. During the 1920s and 1930s, Nickel created documentary films on the region's most important companies, as well as documenting many events relevant to the city's history. A film about Philipp Nickel and Nuremberg cinema history is screened in the cinema of the "Noris-Theater" (35 seats). This historic review is supplemented by various objects, posters and photographs, a reminder of the heyday of the film palaces and the neighbourhood cinema.