Werkbundarchiv - Museum der Dinge

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  A look at the exhibition "Profitopolis, or the State of the City" in the Museum der Dinge.

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  A look at the exhibition "Profitopolis, or the State of the City."

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  The work "Leipziger Straße 40" (2024) by Tracey Snelling (Oakland, USA).

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  View of the exhibition "Profitopolis, or the State of the City." In the foreground are bottles from Mirja Busch's "Pfützenarchiv."

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  Imke Volkers, the museum's co-director of research, is packing up exhibits.

The Museum of Things follows the Werkbund tradition and focuses on the product culture of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Werkbundarchiv - Museum der Dinge (English: Werbund Archive - Museum of Things) is dedicated to material culture shaped by industrial mass production and commodity production. Housed in a former workshop building, it functions as an open storage facility where visitors can directly observe how the collections are managed as part of the museum's operations. At the heart of the institution is the archive of the Deutscher Werkbund (DWB).

Counteracting the growing alienation caused by design

Founded in 1907, this association of artists, industrialists, and cultural policymakers sought to bring about a reform of lifestyle as part of the utopian cultural trends of the early 20th century. The DWB aimed to counteract growing alienation through a reformed, modern and functional design of industrially manufactured products, as well as architecture and living spaces. In addition to influencing the contemporary design and production of objects and ensembles, aesthetic education was a core mission of the DWB.

Founded in 1973 and supported by a nonprofit association, the Werkbundarchiv is an autonomous organization that consciously carries on the Werkbund tradition. It sees its mission as encompassing not only the physical preservation and scholarly documentation of the Werkbund's work but also its contemporary interpretation and reflection. For this reason, the Museum der Dinge does not limit its collection and exhibition activities to the works of Werkbund artists and companies, but incorporates the Werkbund's sphere of influence - everyday life and the commodity-producing society - into its work.

Between Werkbund products and mass-produced goods

In addition to approximately 30,000 documents, the collection also includes around 20,000 objects. These highlight the differences between Werkbund products and mass-produced goods, arts and crafts and industrially manufactured products, objects by well-known designers and anonymous designs, functional and purist objects and “kitsch,” as well as brand-name goods and no-name products. In addition, there are series on the history of materials, forms, and functions of objects in the 20th century. The collection thus enables reconstructions of how objects were used in industrial society from cultural-historical, technical, functional-historical and sociological perspectives.

Address, Opening Hours and Contact Information

• Address:
  Leipziger Straße 54
  10117 Berlin
  City map
• Phone: [phone]
• Internet: www.museumderdinge.de
• Opening Hours: Thursday to Monday from 12 noon to 7 p.m.
• Admission Fee:
  €6, concessions €4