05.12.2012 German Techinical Museum

industrial craft

Holy moley what a snore! I was dragging my feet through this ginormous museum and it really felt like there was no end in sight, yet I refused to leave until I saw everything. I chose to be the grumpy girl weaving through exhibits alone and giving little kids cut-eye when they were between me and some mildly interactive display, because that was all the interest I could muster. And here, I thought: "It's the Germans! Technical engineering! This should be an impressive visit! When in fact, it was trains, and trains, and more trains, and then airplanes, and boats, and ships, and televisions, and radios, computers, textiles, photography... Perhaps it would be exciting for a five year old boy. Nonetheless I trudged through.

The museum is gigantic. It is two buildings (a new and an old one) with four floors in each, a 'beamtenhaus' and a train shed sandwiched between it all. I thought I would never see the end of it, although I can't remember why I was so tired and so stubborn to finish the place. Although, if you compare this museum to the Canadian Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, this one is still better. There are a few sections I left without seeing, and I have a feeling that they are the ones that would have made the day better. Those things being an old brewery, and a windmill, and the platform where trains switch tracks - turntables?.(still not tempting enough for me to go back) For some reason the excursion to the museum just left me feeling grumpy. 

The nice thing about this place is that they have so many exhibits and so much information that they've boiled it down to simple themed DIY tours that let you dabble in all the buildings without feeling overwhelmed. (I didn't try them) So I'm going to hold up the commentary, because most of it will just be mumble grumble.

1. push the button to hear the sound of a computer,                 2. braille reader keyboard! Huzzah for accessibility,        3. No idea what this thing is. 

A wire loom, for knitting mesh. Want to sleep under a blanket of steel wool?

I don't know why it's so intriguing, but it's like pantyhose!

"Calcutta" textile swatch , 1911

The textile technology section is tactile heaven. If you rank high in NFT (need for touch), then wiggle your fingers over the samples of different techniques. Something that is woven is stronger than something that is knitted. Can you tell the difference?

1. Ring Ring, is that you on the phone?                                                                        2. So call me maybe

Telecommunications

1. Cafe,                                                                               2. Lobby

Tee-vee. The screen to frame ratio is so unfair.

1.An adorable lamp 2. Konrad Zuse's visionary design for traffic flow. Inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis. In the center of a city of 35 million inhabitants, all the roads would intersect in a 60deg. angle.

This museum is so empty, nobody even noticed. I should move the barrier for the photo next time...

1. Wooden audio block.                                                       2. Not a clue

Airplane in the atrium

Engine shed, There is a train for every decade from early steam engines to the ICE precursor.  

1. Train wishing to go out,                                      2. Inspection pit, from under the train                                   3. something.

1. Berlin bears casted,                                      2. Train,                                                3. Yellow pane

The engine shed smelled like dusty old people. I don't know how to describe it. It's not off putting, but rather it had the smell of something that has been sitting in one place for a very long time; kind of like real vintage clothes. Perhaps it's the odour of the hunks of steel remembering its glory days.

"Chemicals and Pharmacy"

1. hallway,                                                            2. Different molecules

"Pills and pipettes"

This was my favourite exhibit. It's about the chemical and pharmaceutical industry's influence on society. From raw materials to industrial chemicals to medicine for the market. The neat thing about the design of the exhibition is that they use the holes in the "molecular structure" as windows for samples. Close enough to see but far enough to not touch. Did you know the minus sign on a painkiller pill (aka the Spalt tablet) was placed there so you can identify it in the dark? The slot was added there specifically for that purpose. That way you can feel your way around your pills with your eyes closed from the pain and not accidentally ingest the wrong one. The word "Spalt" also means crevice or slot.

Holograms

1. Cameras,                    2. Stereoscopy with prisms (KMQ method)It merges images with prisms, creating a 3d image

Film technology

1. zoetrope                                                                                        2. Phenakistoscope

The film and photography exhibits were also pretty empty. You can try to make a daggueurtype-like portrait by looking through this pinhole thing and then drawing the shadows. Unfortunately, I can't model and be an artist at the same time.

sleeves!

This brings us to the end of Building A, and the engine shed. I couldn't decide whether finding the second building was a curse or a blessing. I was still a grumpy visitor.

Ships

Ships. Trade. Colonization. War. Slaves. These glowing circles each have a miniature ship inside them, and a little background story. The contrast between the old building and the new building is quite obvious. But I guess they weren't trying to look like the place is one piece. Here, you can learn knotting, and view a big collection of ships/boats/floating machines. They didn't have a pirate ship though..

"mmm, sliced tomatoes with greens." she mused.

Ever wonder what's on the inside of an windmill blade?

A special exhibition titled: Windstärken was about wind and energy from windmills to windfarms. Did you know that termites build wind galleries to ensure they are well ventilated and they don't cook themselves inside their mounds?

1. Place the wind turbine is the optimal spot and push the big green button.                     2. What's the optimal number of blades? Which mast is best?

1. An aeoliphone! Makes the sound of wind for theatre.              2. Wind becomes as perceptible as sound, movement, and force. Direct the air to play a note

I think it tells you what direction the wind is blowing

1. Weather vane,                                                                                     2. Wind myths and culture

More ships, more treasure. 

ahoy captain

1. He doesn't know where he is going.                                                                    2. art on display.

1. Hot air balloon travels!                                     2. I wouldn't mind travelling by balloon.                                3. Porco Rosso

scaley nose

The aviation section shows the development of German aviation from balloons to modernity and its use in the Second World War. When you enter the space, you feel like you are a tiny person in a giant fish tank and there are airplanes where there should be fish, hovering all above and around you.

Battered war plane. 

To infinity and beyond! (And I finally went home)