Hagen Open-air Museum

The LWL-Open- Air Museum Hagen - Westphalian State Museum of Craft and Technology ( WFH ) is an open air museum in Hagen district Selbecke in Mäckingerbachtal in the southeastern Ruhr area. Carrier is the Regional Association of Westphalia -Lippe ( LWL).

Unlike most European open-air museums, the WFH does not address the representation of rural - rural everyday life, but the history of craft and technology.

History

Since the 1920s, efforts were made to a group of engineers and home guards to preserve technical monuments for posterity. The then Lord Mayor Alfred Hagen Finke wrote in 1929 Oskar von Miller, the founder of the Deutsches Museum, a letter in which he suggested to build an outdoor museum of technical Cultural Monuments in Hagen. The initiator Wilhelm Claas suggested already in 1930 the Mäckingerbachtal ago as a location for an appropriate museum. The narrow valley in the foothills of the Sauerland, the most important for trade in the 18th and 19th century natural location factors as wind, water and forest.

With built the museum of Fritz Helmut Sunshine, who also directed the museum was. Previously, he was Head of the Technical Department of the building department Dortmund. He struggled after the war, contrary to other decisions, to rebuild the Romberg castle. Thus he fell while at the city council Dortmund in disgrace, but the city administration Hagen was thus aware of him, which ultimately led him to this task. He managed the museum until 1 October 1987. Afterwards took office Deuskardt Michael, whose successor is the current manager Uwe Beckmann.

On July 22, 1960, the open-air museum as " - State Museum of Technology and Craft History - Westphalian Open-Air Museum Hagen Technical Cultural Monuments " was co- founded with the LWL-Open- Air Museum Detmold. It was after the Deutsches Museum in Munich, one of the first museums that specialized in art and its history. The opening to the public was held on 30 April 1973.

Since 1983, the WFH is also the location of the German blacksmith museum, which was initially housed at the Castle Altena since 1960. It is housed in the former town hall of Neunkirchen of 1754, which was rebuilt in the WFH.

In December 1987, extensive changes in the concept of the museum were decided. So not only the core tasks such as inventory and study of the collections have been enhanced, but also provided the particular person and the interrelationship people and technology at the center. It has continued to pursue a concept that the term museum education, first mentioned in a report of the first museum educator of the museum Christiane Kremer in 1989, summarized later. The renaming of the museum also had a result. It was now called " Westphalian Open-Air Museum. State Museum of craft and technology. "In 1992 came the addition of" Hagen ", and later another small modifications thereto, that the name of today " for trade and technology transfers LWL-Open- Air Museum Hagen, Westphalian State Museum ".

Presence

On the approximately 42 -acre site of the WFH about sixty workshops were rebuilt or reconstructed.

Most are ready for use and it is also partly produced regularly for demonstration purposes therein. The visitors get an insight into the career of crafts and industries in the region from the late 18th century to the early industrial production to industrialization in the early 20th century.

The museum is only open seasonally from April 1 to October 31. On the first weekend of Advent, there will be a Christmas market at the museum for three days. In the higher parts of the museum with the clustered houses and a village in the area of ​​printing and paper houses these days are decorated with fairy lights. In the houses and stalls goods are sold primarily in the fields of arts and crafts and gastronomy.

Since May 2012, the brewery is operated again active, is brewed in the Schwelmer beer. There is also a traditional bakery museum, where you can purchase for a small cash prize bread.

" Village square "

Craft demonstration in the rope making the museum

Print " house Vorster "

Tobacco factory illuminated at the Christmas market