- Parking spaces available
- Bus stop available
Bakelitmuseum
Museum/Exhibition
The first plastic was called Bakelite, also known as the material of a thousand things, and was patented in 1907 by the inventor Leo Hendrik Baekeland. It was used as an ideal substitute material for the production of expensive objects made of precious woods, porcelain or ivory. It also made it easier and cheaper to produce many everyday items. The good insulating properties were quickly recognized and used by the burgeoning electrical industry.
Fun fact: The (Bakelite) vacuum cleaner from the famous Loriot sketch can also be found in the Bakelitmuseum in Kierspe.
Address
Bakelitmuseum
Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 380
58566 Kierspe
Telephone: + 49 2359/3322
Properties:
The western plastics processing center developed around Kierspe, Lüdenscheid and Schalksmühle around 1930. The largest company based in Kierspe, Dr. Deisting GmbH, became famous for its thick-skinned rotary switches and sockets, which still work in many cellars today. Since 2003, several thousand exhibits have been presented in the Bakelite Museum in a temporary exhibition - unique in Germany. Products from the early days to the present day are on display. From food processors to bicycle handles, from light switches to magic lanterns, from people's receivers to ashtrays and from hairdryers to typewriters, there are always interesting things to discover from the early days of Duroplast.
Conversely, there is also amazement, for example at a telephone with a rotary dial in the age of cell phones! Here, industrial history is conveyed in its purest form and the development of Kierspe as a location for the modern plastics, metal and electrical industries is explained.
It's well worth a visit!
The Bakelitmuseum in Kierspe is dedicated to the world's first industrially produced plastic. Its inventor is Dr. Leo Hendrik Baekeland, who was born in Ghent, Belgium. After a study trip to the USA in 1889, he settled in Yonkers. He first invented velox paper, which was needed for photography. He was unexpectedly able to sell this invention to Eastman Kodak for 1 million dollars. Between 1905 and 1907, Naekeland, a chemist by training, used this money to develop Bakelite, a material consisting of phenol and formaldehyde, and applied for a patent for it in the same year. The Bakelite brand is still one of the strongest in the plastics sector today and enjoys iconic status worldwide. The thermosetting material is characterized by good dimensional stability, heat resistance and excellent insulating properties and was dubbed the material of a thousand things. It replaced shellac and porcelain, revolutionizing everyday culture.
In Germany, Rüttgerswerke acquired a licence and, together with Baekeland, founded Bakelite GmbH in 1910 with the industrial production of phenolic resins in Erkner near Berlin. The toxic waste material phenol produced by Rüttgerswerke could thus be recycled directly. When the site fell into the Soviet occupation zone after the Second World War, a new start was made in 1948, initially in Munich, before Bakelite Gesellschaft mbH moved to Letmathe two years later. In the Sauerland, and particularly in the Kierspe, Lüdenscheid and Schalksmühle region, a center of excellence in the metal and electrical industry had already been established in the 1930s. In Kierspe alone, there were 36 companies with more than 450 plastic presses. The Kierspe factory owner Carl-Heinz Vollmann collected many interesting Bakelite products and donated them to the Heimatverein Kierspe e.V. This laid the foundation for the Bakelitmuseum, which opened in Kierspe in 2003 - the only one of its kind in Germany.
Whether a kitchen machine, bicycle handle, ashtray or hairdryer: there are always interesting things to discover in the Kierspe Bakelitmuseum.
The Bakelite Museum is one of the attractions at WasserEisenLand - Industriekultur SüdwestfalenSpecial tours
on request
Heimatverein Kierspe
www.kierspe.de/heimatvereinTipp: At a Kierspe listening point, not far from the Bakelite Museum, you can use a QR code to find out exciting information about this historic building. You can find out more under the entry "Kierspe listening points".
Text source © WasserEisenLand
All information without guarantee!
Prices
Free admission: 0.0
Directions
The Bakelitmuseum is located directly on Friedrich-Ebert-Straße (L 528). It can be reached via the L 528 from Halver or from Meinerzhagen. You can get there via the A 45 - Meinerzhagen exit - and then continue on the B 54 towards Kierspe. From the B 54, continue on the B 237 towards Wipperfürth at the first junction in Kierspe. At the next major junction, turn right onto the L 528 towards Halver. The Bakelitmuseum is located on the right-hand side in the old town hall of the town of Kierspe. Parking spaces are available in front of it. There is also a bus stop right there. Bus routes 82, 282 and 94 of the Märkische Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG) run here.
