Time capsule

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A 500 year time capsule at the Seoul Tower on Namsan . Closed in 1985, it is scheduled to open in 2485.

A time capsule is a container for storing things that is only opened or allowed to be opened by people after a certain time interval, with the purpose of preserving and documenting things typical of the time for future generations.

The term was probably first used in the 1930s; It is estimated that around 30 time capsules exist in the USA from the turn of the century to the 20th century. The process is more widespread there than in Europe.

Variations

Sealing of a copper time capsule by soft soldering when laying the foundation stone
Bottle time capsule exposed from a concrete step; content destroyed by moisture (paper pulp)

The typical time capsule (often also in the urn, box, capsule, box, tray, document sleeve, Bull, " bottle spoke", or generally of a container) is a container , for example, at a foundation stone is supported with in the foundation of a new building . Time capsules are also traditionally deposited in the ball of church spiers , the church tower button. In contrast to foundation stones, which are seldom opened, when church spiers are renovated, an opening usually becomes an event with regional significance. The old contents are gladly presented in the press and the media and their history and the time when it was published. The new layout is also worth a report. The old contents are supplemented with new things and sealed in the container. This content can be: coins and banknotes, newspapers of the day, newly written chronicles and statistical information of the town or town.

There are also other variants of the time capsule, for example a capsule that you send to yourself and then open in the distant future, or private time capsules for your descendants . Sometimes time capsules are not or not primarily designed with the intention of illustrating the present (in order to later recall this time that has then become the past), but to express wishes and make predictions for the future (for example like this own life could look like in a few years). The particular attraction often lies in the possibility of later seeing to what extent these prognoses have come true. Often what was believed to be realistic yesterday from the perspective of today's reality therefore also has a curious element and not infrequently offers an opportunity to amuse yourself (about yourself).

Incidental finds or attic finds are also time capsules in a broader sense. These historically interesting finds were mostly unintentional. Even entire structures are called that.

Sometimes cars are also used as time capsules, such as the "Miss Belvedere", a Plymouth Belvedere sunk in Tulsa , Oklahoma in 1957 , which was recovered damaged 50 years later.

Archaeological time capsules range from rubbish heaps to ice cores to ancient Pompeii .

Characteristics of a time capsule also carry interstellar messages such as the Pioneer plaque or the Voyager Golden Record , since they are probably on the move for a very long time before future humans or an extraterrestrial intelligence may come across them.

A virtual form of the time capsule are also visions of the future in science fiction novels, dystopias and films that are set in the future. When the fictitious point in time occurs, there is often an amusing effect.

capsule

It should be possible to close the container or capsule airtight and watertight in order to ensure the shelf life of the contents over a long period of time. It is comparable to the message in a bottle . If moisture penetrates the capsule, the documents will rot; Coins can oxidize and thus ruin the meaning of the capsule.

material

Time capsule made of 20 mm thick stainless steel with concrete anchoring grooves

For reasons of cost, extremely weather-resistant materials such as titanium are very rarely used today. Time capsules are often made of copper or stainless steel . In addition to the material used, the material thickness is also decisive for the safe storage of contemporary documents.

Storage location

The storage location should be in a sheltered location to prevent moisture ( rainwater , waterlogging ) from penetrating . If the capsule is buried, care should be taken to ensure that it is below the frost line , as otherwise it can be damaged by the weather and become leaky as a result.

Examples

As early as 1862, a time capsule in the form of a tin box with six different documents was found in the Johannisturm in Aschersleben , the oldest of which was dated to 1599 and contained various information about the history of the city. A document dated July 12, 1652, for example, described the suffering caused by the 30-year war in Aschersleben, while other writings reported the occurrence of the plague.

At the turn of the 20th century, time capsules became particularly popular in the United States. An early time capsule project was the Crypt of Civilization , which was locked in an abandoned swimming pool at Oglethorpe University in 1940 and is not scheduled to open until 8113. On the 50th anniversary of the sealing, the International Time Capsule Society was founded there in 1990 .

In April 2011, on the occasion of the renovation of the church roof, a time capsule was opened from the tower ball from the top of the Martinskirche in Müllheim in Markgräflerland , which had been packed in April 1925. The documents inside were protected by a kind of waxed paper and a double sheath of lead . After completion of the renovation was a newly filled copper - cassette moved into the tower sphere.

In the fall of 2014, a 100-year-old time capsule of the New York Historical Society in the form of a solid bronze box was opened in New York and a new one was immediately packed. It was rediscovered by accident in the 1990s. The box was originally planned to be opened in 1974. However, both the club and the time capsule fell into oblivion and after the find it was decided to wait until 2014 to open it.

In January 2015, a 220 year old time capsule was reported. This is said to have been deposited in the cornerstone of the Massachusetts government building in Boston in 1795 by the American freedom fighters Samuel Adams , Paul Revere and William Scollay . During renovation work in 1855, this time capsule was found and buried again and finally found and recovered again in December 2014 during repair work caused by a burst water pipe. The contents of this time capsule were found: an engraved silver plate, an image of the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a medal in honor of George Washington and a coin from 1652. Samuel Adams played a key role in the revolt of the Boston Tea Party against the British taxation and was governor of Massachusetts from 1794 to 1797. Paul Revere was also a well-known freedom fighter at the time. William Scollay alone is less well known - but the colonel is said to have persuaded his two acquaintances to come up with the idea of ​​the time capsule.

During the space mission of the German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst in 2018, a time capsule from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) was on board the International Space Station . After the return to earth, which took place in January 2019, it was handed over to the House of History in Bonn, where it is to be exhibited or kept until 2068. The opening is scheduled for the 50th anniversary of the start of Gerst's Horizons mission, i.e. June 6, 2068. The aluminum ball was made by DLR trainees and contains, among other things, a long-term data carrier. It stores the wishes for the future that were sent in by 8,000 children and young people as part of a school competition. The M-Disc also contains over 2000 photos from everyday life and numerous contemporary documents . The capsule also contains several symbolic small objects that represent the research areas of DLR: several pieces of meteorite, including a fragment of the NWA 7325 meteorite (space), a small paper airplane (aviation), two sundials made by school classes (energy research) and a miniature model of one DeLorean (transportation research).

See also

Web links

Commons : Time Capsules  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Time capsule  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Friederike Frantz: A time capsule from 1914 was opened in New York. Badische Zeitung , October 11, 2014
  2. ↑ Solveig Grothe: Spectacular Time Capsules - Beer for the 82nd Century. Spiegel Online , November 24, 2011
  3. ↑ Stadtwerke Aschersleben, Peter Heister (responsible): aschersLEBEN edition 01/2016, page 8, accessed online on July 19, 2016
  4. ↑ Gabriele Babeck-Reinsch, Volker Münch: badische-zeitung.de: Old documents discovered in the tower of the church. Badische Zeitung , April 26, 2011
  5. ↑ Gabriele Babeck-Reinsch: The ball comes up again. Badische Zeitung , June 1, 2011
  6. ↑ Gabriele Babeck-Reinsch: Bags. Badische Zeitung , June 3, 2011
  7. ↑ newyorkhistoryblog.org
  8. ^ Time capsule opened in New York after 100 years. Der Spiegel , October 10, 2014
  9. ↑ 220-year-old time capsule opened: Spit it out, old house . January 7, 2015. Accessed January 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ All information about the time capsule - almost all of them ... German Aerospace Center , accessed on January 17, 2019 .