Heritage and history: Germany’s industrial museums and the (re-) presentation of labour

Abstract

From the 1970s onwards many traditional industries such as coalmining and steelmaking, textiles and clothing declined in Western Europe and were transferred first to Eastern Europe, then to East Asia. The mines and factories that employed hundreds of thousands of people were closed und demolished. A new type of museum came into existence for the first time: the industrial museum, initially in Great Britain, then in other European countries. This paper starts by giving an insight into Germany’s first industrial museum and its work. It then proceeds to present the other major museums of industrial and labour history in Germany. It focuses on the representation of labour and the various related aspects. The paper ends with some suggestions for updating the representation of labour in a period when – after it disappeared into museums – it now seems to be disappearing within them.