Milestone-Proposal:The Deutsches Museum, Special Citation in History, 1903
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Docket #:2024-23
This proposal has been submitted for review.
To the proposer’s knowledge, is this achievement subject to litigation? No
Is the achievement you are proposing more than 25 years old? Yes
Is the achievement you are proposing within IEEE’s designated fields as defined by IEEE Bylaw I-104.11, namely: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy. Yes
Did the achievement provide a meaningful benefit for humanity? Yes
Was it of at least regional importance? Yes
Has an IEEE Organizational Unit agreed to pay for the milestone plaque(s)? Yes
Has the IEEE Section(s) in which the plaque(s) will be located agreed to arrange the dedication ceremony? Yes
Has the IEEE Section in which the milestone is located agreed to take responsibility for the plaque after it is dedicated? Yes
Has the owner of the site agreed to have it designated as an IEEE Milestone? Yes
Year or range of years in which the achievement occurred:
1903
Title of the proposed milestone:
The Deutsches Museum, Special Citation in History, 1903
Plaque citation summarizing the achievement and its significance: Text absolutely limited by plaque dimensions to 70 words; 60 is preferable for aesthetic reasons.
Founded more than a century ago, the Deutsches Museum is one of the largest and most important museums for science and technology in the world. The vision of the museum's founder Oskar von Miller to create a walk-in encyclopaedia that can be experienced has been realized in an amazing way. Masterpieces of technology and engineering create a unique collection that is second to none in the world.
200-250 word abstract describing the significance of the technical achievement being proposed, the person(s) involved, historical context, humanitarian and social impact, as well as any possible controversies the advocate might need to review.
The Deutsches Museum in Munich is one of the largest, most important and most traditional natural science and technology museums in the world. It has around 1.5 million visitors every year. On currently about 40,000 square meters of exhibition space at five different locations, there are a good 30 exhibitions to see, showing a huge thematic range: from Atomic Physics to Aeronautics, from Chemistry to Bridges and Hydraulic Engineering, from Musical Instruments to Health. Visitors come to the Deutsches Museum to see a unique collection: from the first gasoline-powered car, printing presses and engines to the great airplanes. They come because scientific relationships are explained here so simply that even children can understand them. They come to see unique demonstrations - such as the model railway, the microscopy theater or the chemistry shows - or to experience the rotation of the earth live at Foucault’s pendulum. The Deutsches Museum exists since 1903. The museum’s founding father, Oskar von Miller, wanted to create a place where a general overview of science and technology could be given - including playful approaches that would allow visitors to grasp interrelationships with the help of demonstrations and experiments. In 1925, his dream came true: the exhibition building on Museum Island as we know it today was opened.
IEEE technical societies and technical councils within whose fields of interest the Milestone proposal resides.
All
In what IEEE section(s) does it reside?
Germany
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) which have agreed to sponsor the Milestone:
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) paying for milestone plaque(s):
Unit: IEEE Germany
Senior Officer Name: Jan Haase
Unit: IEEE Germany
Senior Officer Name: Jan Haase
IEEE Organizational Unit(s) arranging the dedication ceremony:
Unit: IEEE Germany
Senior Officer Name: Jan Haase
IEEE section(s) monitoring the plaque(s):
IEEE Section: IEEE Germany
IEEE Section Chair name: Jan Haase
Milestone proposer(s):
Proposer name: Peter Russer
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Frank Dittmann
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Proposer name: Joachim Wiest
Proposer email: Proposer's email masked to public
Please note: your email address and contact information will be masked on the website for privacy reasons. Only IEEE History Center Staff will be able to view the email address.
Street address(es) and GPS coordinates in decimal form of the intended milestone plaque site(s):
Deutsches Museum, Museumsinsel 1, 80538 München / Germany (GPS: 48.129871, 11.583452)
Describe briefly the intended site(s) of the milestone plaque(s). The intended site(s) must have a direct connection with the achievement (e.g. where developed, invented, tested, demonstrated, installed, or operated, etc.). A museum where a device or example of the technology is displayed, or the university where the inventor studied, are not, in themselves, sufficient connection for a milestone plaque.
Please give the address(es) of the plaque site(s) (GPS coordinates if you have them). Also please give the details of the mounting, i.e. on the outside of the building, in the ground floor entrance hall, on a plinth on the grounds, etc. If visitors to the plaque site will need to go through security, or make an appointment, please give the contact information visitors will need. The plaque will be mounted in the main entrance hall of the exhibition building on the Museumsinsel.
Are the original buildings extant?
Yes
Details of the plaque mounting:
The plaque will be mounted in the main entrance hall of the exhibition building on the Museumsinsel.
How is the site protected/secured, and in what ways is it accessible to the public?
The entrance hall is secured and accessible during the opening hours.
Who is the present owner of the site(s)?
The Deutsches Museum.
What is the historical significance of the work (its technological, scientific, or social importance)? If personal names are included in citation, include justification here. (see section 6 of Milestone Guidelines)
In 1903 Oskar von Miller fulfilled his dream of founding a museum devoted to science and technology — the Deutsches Museum. Miller had recruited widespread contacts for many years for such a museum. In Prince Regent Luitpold he found a patron who assured him also of national support. Famous scientists and entrepreneurs such as Max Planck, Hugo Junkers, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen and Emil Rathenau advised him on the structure of the departments. Nearly all the material needed for the construction of the building was donated, owing to his commitment. With Carl von Linde, he educated the first museum executive committee to the developer of the refrigeration technology and Walther von Dyck, the rector of the technical university.
What obstacles (technical, political, geographic) needed to be overcome?
Oskar von Miller had to gather a group of supporters, collect money and convince the authorities from Bavaria / Germany.
What features set this work apart from similar achievements?
The Deutsches Museum with its branch museums is an outstanding place for communicating scientific and technical knowledge and for a constructive dialogue between science and society. Established in 1903, it is among the world's oldest museums of science and technology and, with total exhibition space of 66,000 square m², one of the largest. Its unique collection of original exhibits makes Deutsches Museum a leading international venue for celebrating science and technology as a cultural endeavour. As a major German research museum of national significance, it is supported by the state of Bavaria, the federal government and the German states and is a member of the Leibniz Association. The Deutsches Museum fulfils a national mission for collecting and preserving historically significant objects from the world of science and technology and conducts research in the history of those fields and the related social transformations. With its exhibitions and accompanying events and activities, it bridges the gap between research and education and thus helps to foster innovation in our society. The entertaining communication of basic ideas of science and technology is geared to the target groups and provides an overview of historical developments while offering insights into the latest research. It allows people of all ages to gain an understanding of the research process while presenting scientific and technological topics and their impact on our lives in an accessible way. The Deutsches Museum addresses controversial issues and acts as a venue where people can exchange ideas, form their own opinions, and participate in the world of science and technology. In this way it offers orientation in an increasingly complex world in which science and technology place a decisive role and enables museum visitors to reach informed decisions and act as informed citizens in political decision-making processes. But, the Deutsches Museum is much more than one exhibition building. It consists of five locations, each of which is a highlight in its own right: The Transport Center (Verkehrszentrum) displays more than 275 historic cars, trains, bicycles and much more on the subject of mobility - from the Benz Patent-Motorcar to ICE trains. Flugwerft Schleißheim houses a large part of the Deutsches Museum’s aviation collection and displays more than 70 aircraft - from Lilienthal gliders to Eurofighters. The Deutsches Museum in Bonn is the first museum for contemporary research and technology in Germany and is currently being expanded into a central experience site for artificial intelligence. And the Deutsches Museum in Nuremberg is all about the future - and how visions become innovations. And the Deutsches Museum is much more than an exhibition space. After all, the purpose of a museum is not only to exhibit, but also to preserve cultural assets. The museum’s collections include more than 125,000 exhibits - of which just about 25,000 are normally on display, and around 1,000 objects are added year after year. The museum also houses Germany’s largest museum library, with nearly one million volumes. With almost five shelf kilometers, the archive of the Deutsches Museum is the leading special archive on the history of science and technology. Then there are the museum’s workshops, where unique dioramas and demonstrations are created and exhibits are restored. Finally, the Deutsches Museum’s research institute and educational programs also play a major role in imparting knowledge. All in all: The Deutsches Museum is already much more than just a museum.
But the institution is far from reaching its goal. As part of the Deutsches Museum’s future initiative, it want to become the most modern museum on earth. The first stage of this project of the century called “RA1” (Realisierungsabschnitt 1) has already been completed. The first part of the exhibition building on Munich’s Museum Island has been renovated and%
Supporting texts and citations to establish the dates, location, and importance of the achievement: Minimum of five (5), but as many as needed to support the milestone, such as patents, contemporary newspaper articles, journal articles, or chapters in scholarly books. 'Scholarly' is defined as peer-reviewed, with references, and published. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. At least one of the references must be from a scholarly book or journal article. All supporting materials must be in English, or accompanied by an English translation.
History of the Museum: https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/museum/ueber-uns/history
Exhibitions Museum island: https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/museum-island/exhibitions/overview-exhibitions
Exhibitions at Flugwerft Schleissheim: https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/flugwerft-schleissheim/exhibitions
Exhibitions at the Verkehrszentrum: https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/verkehrszentrum/exhibitions
Exhibitions at Nuremberg: https://www.deutsches-museum.de/en/nuernberg/exhibitions
The German Museum of Science and Technology Media:Nature_115_1925.pdf
The Deutsches Museum, Munich Media:Nature_125_1930.pdf
European Science Museums Media:Science_128_1958.pdf
The Greatest Museum of the Machine Age - New York Times Media:NYT_1930-10-26.pdf
Supporting materials (supported formats: GIF, JPEG, PNG, PDF, DOC): All supporting materials must be in English, or if not in English, accompanied by an English translation. You must supply the texts or excerpts themselves, not just the references. For documents that are copyright-encumbered, or which you do not have rights to post, email the documents themselves to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please see the Milestone Program Guidelines for more information.
Please email a jpeg or PDF a letter in English, or with English translation, from the site owner(s) giving permission to place IEEE milestone plaque on the property, and a letter (or forwarded email) from the appropriate Section Chair supporting the Milestone application to ieee-history@ieee.org with the subject line "Attention: Milestone Administrator." Note that there are multiple texts of the letter depending on whether an IEEE organizational unit other than the section will be paying for the plaque(s).
Please recommend reviewers by emailing their names and email addresses to ieee-history@ieee.org. Please include the docket number and brief title of your proposal in the subject line of all emails.
