Letterhead of Westfälische Kupfer- und Messingwerke, founded in 1836 by Caspar Noell in Lüdenscheid-Vogelberg [1891]
Geschichtsmuseum Lüdenscheid
Important station on the wire trade route, button town, birthplace of the aluminum industry, center of plastics processing - Lüdenscheid's path to industrialization is versatile and innovative. For example, it was the Osemunde iron forged here that guaranteed the early success of the wire products from the Mark Brandenburg in the Ruhr region and throughout Europe. The museum turns this into a colorful mix of (cultural) historical treasures ...
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… It includes buckles and buttons of all kinds, a steam generator and even a whole train called "Schnurre". As of 1887, it runs on the narrow-gauge line to Altena and provides the link to the Ruhr industry via the Ruhr-Sieg line. Another hallmark of the museum are special exhibitions on stamping, pressing and embossing as well as on the local history of Lüdenscheid.
One of the Lüdenscheids outstanding citizens is the airship designer Carl Berg (1851–1906). From his great-grandfather's button-making workshop and the metalworking businesses that later emerge from it, he shapes a company that becomes a pioneer in the electrical and aluminium industries. Thus it is his razor-thin aluminium sheets and the supporting structure that provide the Austrian aviation pioneer David Schwarz with the lightweight components he needs to build the world's first all-metal airship. Its maiden flight in Berlin in 1897 is also attended by the Count of Württemberg and airship designer Ferdinand von Zeppelin, with whom Carl Berg establishes the "Society for the Promotion of Airship Travel" in the same year. The fact that Zeppelin subsequently makes aviation history is not least a result of the sophisticated aluminium profiles made by the Berg company. This is commemorated in the Lüdenscheid Museum with Zeppelin models.
Another pioneering aluminium product, the well-known "aluminium foil", goes back to the Lüdenscheid manufacturer Oskar Eduard Hueck (1886–1966). His wife Gertrud, a long-time patron of arts, keeps the name Hueck closely linked to the Lüdenscheid art and cultural scene. Appropriately, the Municipal Art Gallery is located right next to the History Museum. The attractive ensemble of buildings shared by the two institutions consists of the old administrative centre and a neighbouring villa, which are connected by a modern glass construction. The exhibition space thus created is large enough to accommodate the narrow-gauge railway "Schnurre" without any effort.
Steel Time Travel Destinations Nearby
The "Steel Time Travelers" Luise & Alfred: Geschichtsmuseum Lüdenscheid
Al:
I have never been to Lüdenscheid. No real rail connection, no river and terribly high up in the land of a thousand mountains ...
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Al: I've never been to Lüdenscheid. No real rail connection, no river and terribly high up in the land of a thousand mountains. Phew - and it's cold here!
Lu: It spoke - the city man! There was already industry here when you were still herding sheep along the Emscher - a military road as early as the 9th century. And you couldn't close your coat now without the buttons from here.
Al: Now I see the light. They're experimenting here with this new kind of bright light metal. What was that called again?
Lu: AL !!!
Al: Aluminum, how could I forget. So light it could almost fly ... And - now I remember something else - they forged Osemund here, too. Good thing those days are over.
Lu: Lightning! You get a medal! By the way, also from here.
Al: And how do we get back, down to Altena?
Lu: Straight through the Rahmedetal - we juggle with the Schnurre ...
Visitor information
Address:
Sauerfelder Str. 14-20
58511 Lüdenscheid
Phone. 02351/171496
www.luedenscheid.de > Freizeit & Tourismus > Kultur >Geschichtsmuseen
museen@luedenscheid.de
Opening hours:
Wed-Sun: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
In the Sauerland region of the Mark Brandenburg, Part 2: From iron to plastic (1965)
Brief description (film without sound)
The range of buttons made in Lüdenscheid is large, as is the proportion of small-scale craftsmanship.
Industrial history and the Lüdenscheid History Museum in pictures
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Metal button factory P.C. Turck: founded in Lüdenscheid in 1791
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Industrial facilities around Lüdenscheid station [1930]
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Museum train "Schnurre" in the history museum Lüdenscheid
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Wire coils on the flat car no. 812 from 1928
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The Lüdenscheid History Museum today
