Manufacture of dreams

Exterior view of the building

The Manufactory of Dreams is an adventure museum in Annaberg-Buchholz . It houses the Marie Ströher memorial collection on 1,100 square meters . The museum and exhibition were opened to the public on October 29, 2010. The collection includes folk art from the 18th century to the present day. Most of the exhibits date from the period between 1890 and 1930. The collection is considered to be the most extensive and most important private collection of Erzgebirge folk art in German-speaking countries.

history

After a two-year construction phase, the Manufactory of Dreams was opened at the end of October 2010 on Annaberger Markt. The museum shows Erika Pohl-Ströher's folk art collection , which will be on display there for at least 25 years. Overall, the expansion of the museum and the exhibition cost 7.5 million euros. In addition to funding from the EU , the state of Saxony and the city of Annaberg-Buchholz, the lender also contributed a not inconsiderable amount from private funds . 5.5 million euros were built in, 2 million euros flowed into the conception, construction and design of the exhibition. Two thirds of the complete Pohl-Ströher collection can be seen in Annaberg, one third is to be seen in Czech museums in Chomutov and Most from 2011 to around 2015 and will mainly contain Bohemian exhibits. The exhibition was originally intended to be on permanent loan in Freiberg , where parts of the Pohl-Ströher mineral collection can be seen in the terra mineralia exhibition . There, however, this failed due to the lack of sufficient financial resources and a suitable property. A large part of the collection was already stored in Freiberg when Pohl-Ströher's lawyers announced the final rejection to Freiberg on May 16, 2006.

Creation and structure of the exhibition

2005: December 9, 2005 and a conversation between Erika Pohl-Ströher and Annaberg Mayor Barbara Klepsch are considered to be the hour of birth of the "Manufactory of Dreams". After Freiberg's rejection and the unsuccessful search for an alternative location in the Ore Mountains for the permanent exhibition - Oberwiesenthal and Seiffen were envisaged - the collector in Annaberg-Buchholz met with great interest.

2006: Three truckloads of the collection temporarily stored in Freiberg were brought to Annaberg-Buchholz. During transport and unpacking, quite a few valuable pieces were broken, which had to be painstakingly restored. Obtaining funding from the EU and the state was also difficult. Erika Pohl-Ströher contributed a considerable amount so that the city could also contribute its own share.

2007: The city of Annaberg-Buchholz acquired the historic, but dilapidated building of the former "Kaffee Zentral", located between the Erzhammer cultural center and the Adam-Ries-Museum , from private ownership in order to convert it into a museum.

2008: Construction of the museum started on August 29, 2008.

2009: In April 2009 the topping-out wreath was put on and the name “Manufactory of dreams” was determined.

2010: Almost 1400 exhibits were set up step by step between May and October 2010. The first object in May was a mechanical Christmas mountain . On October 29, 2010 the “Manufactory of Dreams” opened.

2011: In December, the Manufactory of Dreams welcomed the 100,000th visitor.

House

The museum is located in the pedestrian zone not far from the market in Annaberg-Buchholz. The house was a popular meeting place for business people from all over the world during the heyday of the trimmings industry and was empty after 1990. Inconspicuous from the outside, it has become an architecturally modern museum inside. The architectural concept comes from the Berlin architect Götz Bellmann .

The collector

Erika Pohl-Ströher's (1919–2016) family roots lie in the Ore Mountains. Her grandfather, Franz Ströher, was a master hairdresser from Oberwiesenthal , from whose company in Rothenkirchen in the Vogtland the company Wella emerged . After 1945 the Ströher family had to leave their home in the Ore Mountains and Vogtland. Little remained of the grandmother's folk art collection. Some of them were burned in the bombing raids, other pieces were lost after 1945 when the family had to leave their home. The rest formed the basis of today's collection. Erika Pohl-Ströher lived in Ferpicloz, Switzerland, in the canton of Friborg .

The collection of the “Manufactory of Dreams” includes around 1500 historically valuable folk art and handicrafts. Many of them come from the Saxon and Bohemian Ore Mountains . But they also extend to Thuringia and Bavaria. Various pyramids , figures of lights, nativity scenes , smokers and nutcrackers can be seen below.

exhibition

The collection extends over three floors. Each exhibition floor follows a theme:

See: cave openings with miniatures

Make: especially carved exhibits

Amazement: angels, pyramids, figures ...

A variety of Erzgebirge figures - from angels and miners to nutcrackers, mass figures and ceiling chandeliers to wonderful toys, tire animals and small wooden vehicles - take visitors to the land of dreams. Attractive productions allow the characters to tell stories that invite you to see, participate and be amazed. The visitors immerse themselves in fascinating worlds that create colorful scenes in their heads. Being active is expressly desired when visiting an exhibition - because only reality makes dreams come alive.