Thüringer Museum für Elektrotechnik

The Thüringer Museum für Elektrotechnik in Erfurt preserves the industrial heritage of electrical engineering in central Germany. Housed in a former data-centre in Schlachthofstraße, it opened in 2000 on 300 square metres and ran until 2012. The museum’s collections span household appliances, high-vacuum electronics and early computers, with highlights from the Funkwerk Erfurt works. Josef Lorenz and Rudolf Fiebich received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2013 for their voluntary work running the school laboratory that served around six thousand pupils. Since 2012 the exhibits have been stored while the association seeks a new home, most recently proposing the attic of the Defensionskaserne on the Petersberg citadel. The museum’s holdings illustrate how Erfurt became a centre for radio valves, measuring instruments and office machinery during the 20th century. Nearly 800 different valve types and 250 oscilloscope tubes document the development of high-vacuum electronics at Funkwerk Erfurt, which operated from 1938 to 1990. A complete run of measuring devices produced between 1948 and 1991 shows the factory’s role supplying Council-for-Mutual-Economic-Assistance countries. The collection also includes parts of an ESER mainframe and the original fittings of a Robotron R300 computer centre. Visitors can explore displays of broadcast receivers made in towns across Thuringia, from Apolda to Sonneberg. The historical archive stretches back to 1890 and contains technical journals, circuit diagrams and factory photographs. Special exhibitions and loaned objects bring these artefacts to wider audiences, while regular lectures deepen understanding of electrical technology’s past.