Thuringian Museum for Electrical Engineering Erfurt

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The Thuringian Museum of Electrical Engineering (in short: Electromuseum) is a technology museum in Erfurt , which is operated by the Verein Elektromuseum - Thüringer Museum für Elektrotechnik Erfurt eV .

From 2000 the association had its own exhibition, which was closed in 2012. Since then, the association has been looking for a new location in the Thuringian capital of Erfurt.

society

The industrial upheaval associated with the reunification of Germany in 1990 led to the risk that historically valuable devices, machines, technologies and information would be irretrievably lost. To prevent this, committed specialists founded the Electromuseum - Thuringian Museum for Electrical Engineering Erfurt eV association on September 15, 1990 .

The goals of the association are to collect, preserve, process and document testimonials, facts and information from the history of electrical engineering with a focus on Thuringia. A museum for electrical engineering is to be set up and maintained in Erfurt.

history

Museum 2000–2012

From 2000 to 2012 the association ran a permanent exhibition in the building of a former computer center at Erfurt Schlachthofstrasse 45. Exhibits from the development of various areas of electrical engineering were presented on around 300 m².

Part of the museum was a student laboratory for physics and electronics with around 30 experiments. The laboratory was run entirely on a voluntary basis and was attended by a total of approx. 6000 students. Measuring stations for the detection of ionizing radiation were made available by the Radiation Protection Seminar in Thuringia eV association at the TU-Ilmenau . In 2013 , the association members Josef Lorenz and Rudolf Fiebich received the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon for their voluntary work .

Closing down and looking for a new location

In July 2012, the exhibition had to be closed after 12 years due to a change of ownership and the associated conversion of the building at that time. All exhibits were stored in a depot in Erfurt. The school laboratory was handed over to the Erfurt University of Applied Sciences and will be continued by this.

Since then, the association has been trying to find a new location in the Thuringian state capital Erfurt. The preferred location of the association is the top floor in the vacant building of the defensions barracks on the Petersberg Citadel , not far from Erfurt city center.

Lectures and loans

The association organizes specialist lectures on various areas of electrical engineering.

Exhibits are made available to other exhibitions as loan items.

collection

Overview

The museum maintains the following collections:

Focus

High vacuum electronics

The museum has around 800 different types of receiver tubes, counting tubes, X-ray tubes and transmitter tubes from national and international manufacturers, as well as around 250 different types of oscilloscope and special tubes.

High vacuum electronics from the Funkwerk Erfurt

Measuring table for oscilloscope tubes (left) and radar tubes (right) from test equipment production at Funkwerk Erfurt in the former exhibition of the Thuringian Electromuseum.

From 1938 to 1990 the Funkwerk Erfurt (formerly Telefunkenwerk , also Microelectronics Erfurt) developed and produced components for high vacuum electronics . In the GDR , the factory was the so-called lead company . Various types of electron tubes and high-voltage capacitors were developed in its central laboratory for receiver tubes (ZLE) . In some cases, finished developments were given to other companies for production, e.g. B. Transmitter tubes to the factory for television electronics (WF) in Berlin.

The museum's fund includes production machines and equipment, assembly devices, special tools, development samples, built-in parts, semi-finished products and system structures from Funkwerk Erfurt. Including a number of unique items as well as development and comparison samples.

Measurement technology from the Funkwerk Erfurt

From 1948 to 1991, electronic measuring devices were developed and produced in the Funkwerk Erfurt. A part of this was exported to countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Aid (Comecon) .

The museum has an almost complete collection of all measuring devices produced during this period from the development sample store of the Funkwerk. Test devices from rationalization equipment manufacturing (in-house tool and test equipment manufacturing) have also been preserved.

Office and computing technology

Storage of a computer system: Magnetic tape unit Robotron MBE 4000 with magnetic tape drive and datasette drives in the depot of the Thuringian Electric Museum

Office and calculating machines as well as electronic data processing machines were developed and manufactured in Sömmerda (Robotron), Zella-Mehlis (Cellatron), Erfurt (Optima and Funkwerk), Mühlhausen (VEB Mikroelektronik) and Gera (VEB Elektronik) . A number of these models can be found in the collection of the electrical museum.

The electronics museum also has parts of an ESER computer system . Many parts of the original interior of a Robotron R300 data center could also be preserved.

Radio technology from Thuringia

From 1945 to 1990 u. a. 180 different radio receivers are developed and produced at the following locations in Thuringia , of which about 100 models are in the museum's fund:

Historical archive

A technical archive library dating back to 1890 contains specialist journals, specialist and textbooks, as well as development documents and company brochures. Further components are circuit documents, adjustment, service and operating instructions as well as company documents. Included are u. a .:

  • Funkwerk Erfurt : research reports and development documents, technological documents and work instructions, device descriptions, repair and circuit documents, photos and advertising material, test reports and image archive (approx. 30,000 images) including video documentation of the technology of the oscilloscope tube.
  • Fernmeldewerk Arnstadt : Sound archive of the company radio .
  • German and English-language specialist literature and specialist journals from former scientific specialist libraries (e.g. Funkwerk Erfurt, Robotron -vertrieb Erfurt, AEG / WF -Berlin, Fernmeldewerk Arnstadt).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Under power: Central depot is looking for a museum . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed June 2, 2018]).
  2. ^ A b Museum Association of Thuringia: Thuringian Museum for Electrical Engineering. Retrieved June 2, 2018 .
  3. ↑ For 10 years, the electric museum has been doing important educational work . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed June 2, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Erfurt school laboratory opens again . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed on June 28, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Student laboratory of the Erfurt Electronic Museum now in the University of Applied Sciences . ( tlz.de [accessed on June 2, 2018]).
  6. ↑ After a long break, experiments again for the first time . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed June 2, 2018]).
  7. ↑ Electromuseum wants Defense barracks as a new domicile . ( tlz.de [accessed on June 2, 2018]).
  8. ↑ The unique electric museum is to become an attraction in the defensive barracks . ( thueringer-allgemeine.de [accessed June 2, 2018]).
  9. ^ Thuringian Museum of Electrical Engineering: Event archive. In: www.elektromuseum.de. Elektromuseum - Thuringian Museum for Electrical Engineering Erfurt eV, accessed on June 3, 2028 .