Industrial Museum, Chemnitz

After a lengthy gestation period, which was extended due to the fall of the Iron Curtain, the city council of Chemnitz made the official decision in August, 1991 to set up the Industriemuseum Chemnitz (Chemnitz Industrial Museum). “Saxony and in particular Chemnitz, is the most important industrial city… It has a long tradition in regards to the industry, transportation, science and social history which in the course of the development of this region gave an unmistakable cultural character … In connection with other engineering projects in Saxony … and in view of the existence of nearly 50 technical showcases of the pre-industrial period the industrial museum Chemnitz will honour the character of a scientific-organizational center” stated the founding document. Jochen Seyffarth, who put together the original museum concept in 1983, became the first curator of the museum. The museum was officially opened in August of, 2000. While automobiles were part of the permanent display since the beginning, the biggest coup came in 2009 when the museum managed to acquire a collection of DKW automobiles, amassed by the grandson of J.S Rasmussen, founder of DKW.