PRESS RELEASE
17.05.2013
New opening: The German Steam Locomotive Museum
ATELIER BRÜCKNER designs open-air and technical museum
The German Steam Locomotive Museum in Neuenmarkt, Upper Franconia, opens its new exhibition, designed by ATELIER BRÜCKNER. The inauguration will take place on May 18th. A clear, straightforward design accentuates and structures a range of exhibits saturated with the history of railway technology. Technical processes and the historical background are also illustrated at the same time.
"The exhibition in Neuenmarkt stands out due to its vastness – something we had to place within a suitable intelligible framework; it is also exceptional due to the uniqueness of its incredibly rich collection of steam locomotives – whose aura we highlight – and due to the many stories associated with the location – we make them accessible." (Prof. Eberhard Schlag, Partner ATELIER BRÜCKNER).
The heart of the museum, the historical roundhouse, is part of a round tour stretching over an area of almost 100,000 square meters. A new corporate design, explanatory text panels at buildings and large-format, figurative silhouettes that represent the individual professions of the workers in the former locomotive depot accompany the visitor on the round tour and make it possible to experience the entire site as a single entity.
The roundhouse itself offers three ways of gaining access to the fascinating world of steam locomotives. At first a timeline explains the history of the steam locomotive and places it in the context of the development of railways in Germany. Analogously to the idea of the roundhouse, large-scale emotionally evocative graphics and media stations can be flexibly combined and enable repeated reconfiguration of the exhibition for different purposes. In addition, various islands, each one individually staged and dedicated to a particular theme, tell the story of the former Neuenmarkt locomotive depot and clarify its social significance for the location and the people who lived there. Finally, a technical round tour illustrates what is concealed beneath the steel skin of the fascinating titans. For example, a one-to-one projection onto a steam locomotive impressively shows how its interior components and processes interact with each other. The steam locomotive as a technical masterpiece becomes tangible and comprehensible.
In Neuenmarkt, visitors are taken on a trip back through time. The former country village was connected to the railway network as early as the year 1848. Neuenmarkt was the starting point of the "Schiefe Ebene", a stretch of railway line between Bamberg and Hof, where trains had to be pushed because of the steep incline. The consequence was a prospering railway depot here. The railway workers' life – of which there are still traces today – left its mark on the entire village.
CONTACT
ATELIER BRÜCKNER GmbH
Claudia Luxbacher
Press and Public Relations
T. +49 711 5000 77 126
F. +49 711 5000 77 22
presse(at)atelier-brueckner.com
Landratsamt Kulmbach. Administration
Deutsches Dampflokomotiv Museum
Barbara Thiele
T. +49 9221 701 196
F. +49 9221 707 95 196
thiele.barbara(at)landkreis-kulmbach.de
www.dampflokmuseum.de