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ottobre 27, 2016 - Mercedes-Benz

"Simply just beautiful? Automobility and museum": Technology museums highlighted in "Stuttgart Days on Automotive and Corporate History"

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Only change leads to success – that is one of the conclusions from "Stuttgart Days on Automotive and Corporate History", which took place on 10 and 11 October 2016 at the #mercedesbenz Museum. First held 25 years ago, the #event this time focused on technology museums. These are successful when they continually evolve, offer variety and do not lose sight of their brand essence. Around 100 representatives from European technology and automotive museums as well as historians debated current trends. The title of the #event: "Simply just beautiful? Automobility and museum".

Stuttgart. The diversity of technology museums and their content is great. This was made clear once again at "Stuttgart Days on Automotive and Corporate History", which are regularly held by #mercedesbenz Classic Archives in cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The #event is conceived as a communication platform for changing themes for scientists of various disciplines, historians, corporate and media representatives as well as the public.

Eleven presenters addressed a wide range of topics. The museums represented included the Museum of Saxon Vehicles in Chemnitz, the Louwman Museum in The Hague, the Technology Museum in Vienna, the Riverside Museum in Glasgow, the BMW Museum in Munich and, of course, the #mercedesbenz Museum.

Monja Büdke, member of the management board of the #mercedesbenz Museum, introduced the experts to the Museum's extensive programme for children and young people. Children were a key target group, she said, with it also being necessary to arouse a fascination for technology. This need is addressed by the #mercedesbenz Museum with such initiatives as its summer holidays programme, children's birthday offers and workshops for school classes.

Professor Rolf-Jürgen Gleitsmann-Topp, professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, described a technology museum as a place of technology history that could be physically experienced and accessed and which reflected the zeitgeist of the respective era. "The technology museum thus becomes a social place of memory," he said. But isn't a museum also a temple of knowledge for the future? Why is the preservation of historical technology perhaps important or even necessary?

Gregor Isenbort, Director of the DASA Working World Exhibition in Dortmund, stated that a collection was meaningful only if the public could see it in operation, as this allowed the exhibits to unfold their impact on society. He cited the rotary printing press as an example. If visitors to the museum can hear the noise of the machine for just 30 seconds, they will reflect on how workers had to put up with such a level of noise for over ten hours at a time.

For many years, there was a separation between classical industrial museums and so-called science centres. The boundaries are now fluid. Experts have coined the word "hybrid" to describe a museum that supplements its presentations with hands-on exhibitions and places where visitors can do things for themselves. A great deal of basic scientific and technical knowledge is on offer at the exhibition "Charged – electric mobility between desire and reality" at the German Museum in Munich.

Focus on exhibits

Dr Andreas Braun from the BMW Group Museum was an emphatic advocate of every museum continually reasserting its brand essence. He said that the focus was on exhibits and thus on the claim to present solid content.

Outstanding exhibits for historical communication were likewise on show at the #event. For instance, Klaus Reichert, Director of the #mercedesbenz Classic Centre in Fellbach, described the restoration, completed in 2014, of the #mercedesbenz 540 K Streamliner from 1938.

Digital exhibition content is popular, especially with younger visitors, who also find fascination in real exhibits. The museum representatives therefore see digitalisation not as a threat, but as an opportunity to win over young people in conjunction with authentic technology exhibits.

Successful museums create a role for themselves in society, continually demonstrating their relevance afresh. "Every museum must decide on its own strategy, its own way, in order to position itself and make its mark," was the conclusion drawn by Professor Rita Müller, Director of the Museum of Work in Hamburg.

Being "simply just beautiful" is therefore not enough for a successful museum concept. Yet this also comprises the challenge of winning over visitors time and time again and offering them a place of discussion and communication.

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