Angel House

Memorial plaque at the Engels House

The angel house

The Engels house in Wuppertal was one of the five houses that the Engels family owned in the former Unterbarmer Bruch . It is not the birthplace of Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), which stood about 100 meters to the east and was destroyed in World War II. However, Engels grew up in this house. Friedrich Engels Sen. (1796–1860) was born in this house.

The Engels House, near Friedrich-Engels-Allee , together with the Museum for Early Industrialization , now forms the so-called historical center . The first director of the historical center was Michael Knieriem , who published the news from the Engels house .

history

Edification

The house was built by Eberhard Haarmann in 1775 on behalf of Johann Caspar Engels (1715–1787) in the Bergisch late baroque style.

Museum operation

The Engels House has housed an exhibition on the life and work of Friedrich Engels since 1970 and was a popular travel destination for politicians from socialist countries . It was opened on the 150th birthday of Engels, in the presence of the then Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt .

In 1987 the President of the GDR's State Council, Erich Honecker , visited Wuppertal, among others , during his visit to the Federal Republic and was a guest at the Engels House. In a legendary event, the German rocker Udo Lindenberg presented him with a guitar in front of the house.

Due to structural deficiencies, the Engels exhibition is housed in the neighboring house, the Museum for Early Industrialization . Ailing pipes and leaky windows are criticized here. A renovation of the house is planned for the next few years.

The management of the museum suffered a setback in the spring of 2011. On March 1, 2011, the requirements of the fire protection experts were increased due to fire protection deficiencies. Larger groups of people are no longer permitted to stay, the number of people is limited to six visitors. This means that group tours, weddings and other celebrations in the museum are no longer possible. First of all, mobile fire alarms were installed; further measures should be implemented by mid-April 2011. The caretaker's apartment should be closed and the employees' offices moved to other buildings. Because 15 people are less permanent in the building, groups can then be guided through the house again.

Since November 1, 2016, the Engels-Haus has been closed until further notice due to extensive renovation work. It is not yet known when the museum will be able to resume operations. The target is around 2020.