Industrial Museum in Augsburg (Staatliches Textil- und Industriemuseum)
The first state industrial museum in Bavaria, the tim in the north-west wing of the former Augsburg worsted yarn spinning plant (AKS), has opened in 2010 in the heart of the Augsburg textile quarter near the town centre.
The AKS was founded in 1836 as one of the first modern factories in Bavaria by the Nuremberg business man Friedrich Merz. It became one of the most important worsted yarn spinning plants in Germany. The firm began to decline in the 1980s, mainly due to competition from low-cost countries. The last production line of the AKS, the dying plant, closed down in 2004.
With the establishment of the museum the factory grounds now have a new – cultural – purpose. The modern multi-media exhibition of the tim documents the history of Industrialisation in Bavaria by the example of textile manufacturing. Textile machines demonstrate the “Art of the Magicians” from spinning, past weaving, printing and processing to tailoring. The final products lead to a particular focus on “Fashion”, as clothing production was strongly represented in Bavaria after the 2nd World War. The collection owns more than one million cloth patterns of the Neue Augsburger Kattunfabrik, a unique archive documenting European textile printing since 1792. The museum architect created a special treasury for this treasure.
Finally, the exhibition also focuses on the people – factory owners and labourers, entrepreneurs and employees, who all played a role in the great success of the textile industry in Bavaria from the mid 19th century, but who also had to suffer under its decline since the 1980s.
Temporary exhibitions about fashion design and the cultural history of Industrialisation should attract further visitors.
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday: 9 am - 6 pm
Further Information:
tim | Staatliches Textil- und Industriemuseum Augsburg
Provinostraße 46
86153 Augsburg
Telephone: +49 (0)821 81001-50
Fax: +49 (0)821 81001-531
Email: info.tim@tim.bayern.de
Homepage: http://www.timbayern.de
