Toggenburg forge and tool museum Bazenheid

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Toggenburg forge and tool museum Bazenheid
Entrance to the museum panorama
Data
place 9602 Bazenheid , Wilerstrasse 69, Switzerland
Art
architect not specified, as old stock
opening September 12, 1981
Number of visitors (annually) unknown
operator
Toggenburg Blacksmithing and Tool Museum Foundation, Bazenheid SG (since 2012)
management
Friends of the Toggenburg Blacksmithing and Tool Museum Bazenheid SG (since 2012)
Website

The Toggenburg Blacksmithing and Tool Museum Bazenheid is located in Bazenheid in Toggenburg in the canton of St. Gallen ( Switzerland ). It was founded in 1981 and, in addition to a museum, also includes a show forge and an event room. It is the largest operational blacksmith museum in Switzerland. Visits are only possible by prior arrangement.

history

The museum goes back to a forge that was founded in 1924 by Rupert Meier (1891–1950) who specialized early on in the production of high quality tools, especially axes, for various professions. Other forest, agricultural and roofing tools have also been supplied to customers across Switzerland. After his father suffered a stroke, his son Rupert (1925–2009) took over the forge at the age of 22. The advent of the chainsaw forced the new owner to undertake extensive restructuring of his business. He invented the so-called Olma-Heuspaten, which became a resounding success, and specialized in the production of chain links.

On the occasion of the 1200th anniversary of Bazenheid in 1981, Rupert Meier presented for the first time a small exhibition with tools that had been manufactured in previous decades. He supplemented this with a description of his family history. This exhibition was the starting point for the continuous expansion of the collection. In the 1990s, national media became aware of his collection, which was constantly expanding. From 1993 onwards, the Kirchberg community provided him with a barn in which he Handicraft panorama set up.

After the owner's death in 2009, the question of how to continue the museum arose. The preservation of monuments of the canton of St. Gallen and the municipality of Kirchberg commissioned a concept development for the museum and, subsequently, the documentation of the collection that has not yet been inventoried.

On May 3, 2012, the non-profit, non-profit foundation of the Toggenburger Schmiede- und Werkzeugmuseum SG was founded, which took over the property and the collection of the Meier family of blacksmiths and in turn commissioned an association to run the museum. The association was founded on June 9, 2012 in Bazenheid.

collection

The 3000 square meter collection includes:

  • a complete forging facility from old and modern times, where show forging still takes place on certain occasions.
  • the so-called Walliser hammer mill from 1891, which was transferred to the museum from the Technorama in Winterthur in 1994 . The water-powered wave tree made from a 7 meter long larch trunk operates 3 heavy tail hammers.
  • In craft Panorama 300 hand-forged tools as well as an exhibition on different forged species are exhibited on the ground floor. A further 20 trades, such as roofers, wood turner, gürtler, cooper, butcher, shoemaker or carpenter are presented on the upper floor. An exhibition on milling and agriculture complements the collection in the attic.
  • The museum also draws attention to the family and company history of the Meier family's tool forge.

In the tool panorama building, there is a lounge on the ground floor that can be rented.

Mediation

The museum has no regular opening times, but museum tours can be ordered for larger groups at any time. Public events take place on average twice a year in the museum.

Picture collection

  • Valais hammer mill

  • Grindstone

  • Pickaxes 19./20. Century

  • Axes for forestry and agriculture

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Toggenburg forge and tool museum . In: Association of Museums in Switzerland (Ed.): Swiss Museum Guide . Friedrich Reinhardt Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-7245-2020-7 .
  2. ↑ 25 years of Toggenburg forge and tool museum, Toggenburg. In: Toggenburger Jahrbuch 2016. Toggenburger Verlag, 2015, accessed on November 25, 2017 (German).
  3. ^ Department of the Interior, Office for Culture, St. Gallen (Ed.): Museum open. Please ring. On the way to a museum concept for the canton of St. Gallen . St. Gallen November 2012, p. 86 .