Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Museum of cloth and weaving: "Tuch + Technik" in Neumünster

When we spent almost three weeks with numerous rainy days on the North Sea coast in August, I took a trip to Neumünster, the former  „Sheffield of  Northern Germany“, and visited the museum “Tuch+ Technik”. The last factory closed in 1991, but the museum offers an interesting and encompassing exhibit on the history of spinning, weaving and clothmaking.

When I got there I realized that the museum was also hosting the „European Art Quilts VI“ at that time. Sheer coincidence, but I will concentrate on the museum as such here.

The musem is easily accessible from the station. And it is a very good example for the fact that visitng a museum can be fun, entertaining and very instructive – ok, you have to be inerested in the subject matter, but that I was. I was greeted by a guide who pointed me to the beginning of the round and promised to fetch me when she was starting the actual demonstration of the machines, which she did, too.
The permanent exhibit gives a complete overview of the develoment of spinning and weaving, and frequently with objects that were actually found in the Neumünster area. And the historical development is always juxtaposed to events in local history, so you get an introduction to that as well.

These are prehistoric weights used in looms, and a reconstruction of an early loom.




You can find several looms from different periods and in various designs and sizes:



I was particularly attracted by the presentation of the development of the process of spinning, from the early hand spindles to spinning wheels, the „Spinning Jenny“ and then the automatic machines. Unfortunately, the „Spinning Jenny“ was not in working condition and waiting for repair, but we saw a demonstration of the big automatic machine:



They also have a 30-m-long „Dreikrempelsatz“, that machine which transforms unspun wool into spinnable pre-threads. A concise film shows you how this machine works:




For some reason, the pre-threads really tempted me to fetch my spinning wheel back from the attic, where it had been banned only a few months ago due to lack of use...:


And then there is qualitäty control: detecting tied knots in a finished wool blanket, opening them up and sinking the threads properly so they will not be noticeable in the finished product:



A few more impressions from the museum:






These "Spinndrüsenplatten"
- sorry, don't know the correct English term! -
are used nowadays to spin threads
from recycled plastic bottles!
Too bad that I won’t be able to go to their weaver’s market on October 8 and 9. Too far away...
But if you ever plan to be in the area - go and visit that museum, it is well worth it!

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